


Xtra Small: The One-Shots

by Warriorstale001



Series: Dadmare and the Dark Sanses. [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Undertale Multiverse | UTMV (Undertale), Babybones (Undertale), Bad Ending, Child Cross, Clinging, Comfort, Cross wants a pet, Cute, Eventual Fluff, Family, Family Fluff, Father figure Nightmare, Fluff, Gang protect one another, Help, Hugging, Hurt, Ideas for chapters welcome, Inktale Sans Being an Idiot (Undertale), Kidnapping, Nightmare just can’t say no to the cute oreo, Nightmares, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Protection, Rescue, Shock, Spiders, Swearing, Tentacles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Violence, What-If, good ending, mostly happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:35:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 43,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24172177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warriorstale001/pseuds/Warriorstale001
Summary: Extra chapters for one of my other worksXtra Small, containing some bonus canon chapters, what-if scenarios and other ideas that just had to be included.See what mischief a young Cross gets up to in Nightmare’s hideout and out and about in the multiverse!Pets, dolls, movies, blanket forts, cuddles, cute family times and much more to be seen in these extra bonus chapters!Rated Mature (just in case) for some darker chapters (only one or two of those right now), but most will be General for all readers. Warnings will be placed in the beginning notes for those particular chapters.Requests for chapters welcome!
Series: Dadmare and the Dark Sanses. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735519
Comments: 395
Kudos: 170





	1. A Change in Universe. (What-if) M

**Author's Note:**

> Hey and welcome to the _Xtras_ of, you guessed it, [**Xtra Small**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074933)!
> 
> If you haven't already checked that story out, I suggest you do since otherwise you may be quite confused about what's going on here and also because there's **major spoilers** for that work in this.
> 
> Chapters are named as such  
> Chapter Name (Type of Chapter) Rating of Chapter
> 
> Example:  
> A Change In Universe (What-if) M (obviously meaning Mature, so T is Teens and up and G is General)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if scenario:
> 
> What if Cross ended up in Swapfell instead of Underswap after going through the portal from the hideout (Chapter 9)?
> 
> Warnings for:  
> Angst  
> Kidnapping  
> Abuse  
> Hurt  
> Small amount of Violence.  
> Detailed descriptions of minor injuries. (if anyone needs a summary or I've left something important out, please let me know)
> 
> This chapter ends happily with rescue and comfort. Nobody is extremely hurt because I legit am unable to do that to a character. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame so many other writers on AO3 for this. XD
> 
> I PROMISE THIS ENDS WELL EVEN IF IT STARTS TO LOOK BAD, DON'T WORRY.

Cross has been exploring this cold, snowy (yet somewhat dark and menacing?) forest of this AU for quite a while now. He has to admit to himself that he's getting hungry and tired, so maybe he should head back to the hideout via the portal he arrived in. The gang are probably getting worried about him, since they don't know he's gone and _technically_ he isn't supposed to be out here in the first place. He had just wanted to get out for a minute, but had ended up staying much longer than he anticipated, because he'd been having so much fun playing in the snow! It was nice to get out of the hideout for once, but he misses the others. Hopefully they won't be too angry that he left without their permission...

He hurriedly walks back to the area where the portal had been earlier, expecting to see it there still. His eye sockets widen in shock when he realises it's not there anymore. It was definitely here before, he's sure of it! He hadn't seen Nightmare or any of the gang pass through here since he followed them into the portal in secret, so he was sure it would still be there when he needed it to get back.

Will they even notice he's gone and come looking for him? He really hopes they will soon...

Waiting for them to show up where the portal had been seems like his best option, so he decides to sit down there and stay put until then. He sniffles as he thinks about the fact that he's trapped here, completely alone. He wishes that the others will come find him soon. It's nearly night time in this AU and the forest is suddenly looking really daunting and sinister to him. A few minutes later, he finds himself flinching at any sound or movement coming from the trees or bushes around him. It's almost as if something is hiding within them and watching him. He hugs himself for comfort, really hoping nothing bad will come for him out here...

Sans and his brother had been endlessly searching for any sign of the Dark Sanses ever since they had raided their AU of supplies earlier in the day.

Snowdin town has hardly anything left to offer anyone and Sans is _outraged_ about that.

He wants revenge on the ones who dared to mess with _him_ and his town. _Nobody_ crossed the Malevolent Sans and got away with it after all.

Sans was becoming increasingly impatient with the search that was turning up nothing and looking like it would end up being a complete waste of his time. He was just to end it when he heard the sound of someone sniffling coming from somewhere nearby, peaking his interest since barely anyone came out here.

After calling Papyrus for back-up, the two approached the area stealthily to see a small skeleton child sitting all alone in a clearing, tiredly rubbing his eye sockets.

A malicious grin formed on Sans face upon seeing the young skeleton. Oh, he knows _exactly_ who that is. Ink had visited them one time and had told them detailed descriptions of each of the Dark Sanses, to warn them about them in case they ever showed up in the AU. Strange that he didn't mention that this one is a child though. Sans would have thought that would be an important thing to mention, but perhaps it had simply slipped the creator's mind at the time?

Sans really wants to know why Nightmare, the apparent king of negativity and the embodiment of fear itself, would be looking after a child. And why would he allow that child to wander around this AU of all places when he's aware of the danger here? Well...

His mistakes would make revenge all the more sweeter for Sans~.

He could get plenty of information out of the child, maybe some of the others weaknesses, locations and much more before using him as blackmail against the other members of the gang. 

Sure, he's _supposed to be notifying Ink about this and not be taking this situation into his own hands..._

__

__

But surely he's allowed to have a little fun with this one first~. 

He's sure the creator won't mind as long as he's able to get some useful information from him. Also he thinks he deserves some form of payback after the others raid earlier.

He turns to Papyrus at his side and whispers in the quietest voice he can muster. "Catch Him, But Don't Hurt Him _Too_ Much. He's One Of Them."

The other nods and vanishes in a shortcut, rustling the bush Sans is still hiding in as he does so. He internally curses and ducks further into the hiding place, hoping the extra movement won't cause the child to run away in fear.

Cross is on edge, seeing that one of the bushes a few steps in front of him just noticeably shook. Standing up and going one step forward, he takes a nervous look around that area. Is someone watching him right now? 

"N-Nightmare... Is that you?" He calls out timidly. There's no response.

Perhaps it was just his-!

Cross yelps as his shoulder is roughly grabbed from behind and he's thrown onto the floor face first. A gloved hand is placed over his mouth, muffling any other sounds he tries to make as he struggles and fights against his attacker, who is somehow strong enough to hold him down with one arm. Nothing the young skeleton does seems to shake the other off. Why is this happening to him!? Why is this monster being so rough and hurting him like this!? What do they want from him!?

His captor works quickly, effectively tying him up so his arms are wrenched behind his back and his legs are also bound. The gloved hand is moved only for a second before it's replaced by a cloth that is placed over his mouth and tied firmly around the back of his skull to gag him.

Cross cries out in those few seconds before he's gagged, hoping someone good will hear and come to his rescue.

B̵̨̛̹u̶̲͖̿̑ẗ̸̮́͋ ̶̙̋n̷̙̯͋o̵͇͝b̵̨͜ơ̷̤̋ď̴͔͙ÿ̸̨̹́ ̸̭̠̈̕c̶͔̭̾a̵͔̓̊m̷͇̈e̵̜.̷̧̜͑.̷̛̭.̷͇̰͆ 

Cross sobs uselessly into the floor, a blubbering mess as he tries to come up with something, _anything_ he can do to escape. He's completely out of options though. He's too weak to fight against whoever this is and the bonds are too tight. He can barely move an inch right now. He knows now why he should never have left the comfort and safety of the hideout. A frustrated tear trickles down his cheek. He should've listened to Nightmare.

All of a sudden, he's hoisted up and forced onto his knees, a hand at the back of his skull holding him firmly in place as he's forced to bow down slightly. Cross lets out a frightened squeak through his gag as he's moved, terrified by what might be happening next.

More rustling is heard from the foliage in front of him and Cross attempts to lift his eyelights up to see who it is, since he can't move his skull while it's being held in place. He's filled with a small amount of hope. Maybe someone had heard his cries and had come to save him from this monster after all!?

Sans emerges from the trees with a wide grin on his face and makes his way over to Papyrus and the kid, perfectly tied up and bowing before him, just as he should be.

He inspects his captive curiously when he gets close, searching for something unique that might make him worthwhile to the king of negativity. He just seems like a normal skeleton child to him. Why did Nightmare keep this one around then? The young skeleton is weak and had been way too easy to capture. Perhaps there's something about him that he's simply not seeing?

He'll get the information he wants later.

The rescue Cross had been hoping for didn't seem like it would be happening any time soon. Without moving his skull since it was still being held in place by someone behind him, he had taken a glance up at the figure who came out from the bushes. The newcomer looked to be in cahoots with his attacker and the way he had grinned down at him when he approached sent shivers of terror down his spine. He can tell this skeleton doesn't have good intentions for him. He chooses to stare at the floor instead of the monster in front of him after a few seconds, a deep sense of dread filling his soul as he shakes with fear.

Sans smirks in sadistic joy as he watches the child tremble, clearly terrified of him and what he could do to him. It makes him feel _very powerful_ , the fact he can make someone associated with Nightmare quiver and bow before him _so easily_

Sans cups the young skeletons chin with his hand and lifts it upwards to meet his grinning face. "Hello Cross~"

Cross whimpers when his face is grabbed by the other and he's forced to stare into the other's seemingly soulless eyelights. He has no idea why this skeleton knows his name, but the way he said it so maliciously makes Cross feel sick. He tries to jerk his skull out of the others tight grip.

Sans growls as Cross tries to fight against him. Now, that _wouldn't_ do _at all_. He scowls at him, making sure the child can see that he's getting angry. "Shut up and _stay still_! Or do you want me to get _violent_?"

Cross immediately stops all attempts at getting away as he shudders. The other is threatening to hurt him more! His breathing speeds up in his panic until he's struggling for air. He doesn't want to die here! 

Sans grins down at him as he stops struggling and resigns to his fate, looking up at him with eyelights that are clearly filled with terror and his breathing quickens. "That's _much_ better."

He leans closer to Cross, his face now just inches away from the childs'. "Now here's how this is going to work. You're going to remain _perfectly silent_ until we get to our destination and I give you permission to speak. You're _way_ too weak to get away from me or my brother if you do attempt to struggle, so I suggest you stay still and not bother with an escape attempt of any sort, unless of course you're willing to face the _consequences_ of your actions later. You have information I want and I'm going to get it from you one way or another. If you answer the questions I ask you quickly and honestly, then nobody has to get hurt. But... if you lie to me or refuse to answer..." His wide grin becomes unhinged looking, causing Cross's eye lights to shrink to the size of pinpricks. "...you get a _punishment_ for being disobedient. Do you understand that, Cross?"

Cross suppresses another whimper as he nods. What else can he do? He still doesn't know what information the other wants, but maybe he won't get hurt if he just goes along with it? Agreeing to his demands seems to be the best option he has right now.

Sans lets go of the child's face, satisfied enough with the answer. It seems he's willing enough to be obedient to avoid getting hurt. That'll make it very easy to get what he wants later~.

Looking towards his brother, he signals for him to pick Cross up. "Use a shortcut, bring him to the shed and prepare him for questioning, but _don't hurt him yet_. I want to handle him myself later, but I'll make my way over there in my own time."

He isn't going to be lazy like Papyrus and just take a shortcut over there. Besides, if he walks, he'll be giving Cross some time alone to think about how he's going to behave.

Cross squeaks again as the taller skeleton picks him up and practically slings him over his shoulder like he weighs nothing. His eye sockets widen when he realises he just made a sound, even though the other just told him he'd get punished for doing that. He really didn't mean to though! He closes his eye sockets tightly and braces for pain, hoping he won't get hurt too much for the mistake.

Sans does hears him, but notices Cross' immediate regret of the action and the way he's tenses, knowing a punishment may be coming. Sans is satisfied that he's not attempting to struggle or block any oncoming attacks, but is simply accepting his powerlessness in this situation and is waiting for something to happen to him instead. Smart move. Perhaps the gang trained him to do that?

He decides to let the noise slide because of his good behaviour, just this once.

Turning around, he begins walking back towards Snowdin town, looking back at the scared child one last time with a smirk. "I'll see you for questioning in a moment, Cross. _Remember what I told you_."

Sans sees how frightened Cross now looks before the two disappear through one of his brothers shortcuts behind him.

Normally, he would make Papyrus carry captives back through town instead of taking the easy way out and letting him be lazy. But Sans doesn't want to take any chances with Cross. If anyone in Snowdin finds out about him and his association with the group that attacked earlier, they would come for his dust. He's basically free EXP after all.

He smiles wickedly as a thought enters his skull. Perhaps the creator will be generous enough to offer him that EXP as a reward later? Killing him would mean one less Dark Sans after all, so Sans sees no reason why he'll disagree. 

He walks through the rest of the forest at a steady pace, trying to think of the exact questions he's going to ask and what he'll do to the child if he refuses to answer them. Oh, he'll definitely get Cross to talk somehow. Sans has zero doubts about that~.

Entering Snowdin town, he can see most of the townsfolk are watching him warily as usual. They've all been more on edge since the attack, but he knows they definitely don't plan on interrupting his walk. None of them particularly want to fight the head of the royal guard right now, since they all value their lives.

He can see his brother looking out for him in the distance. Papyrus is standing guard outside the shed, waiting for Sans' arrival. He quickens his pace as his destination comes into sight. Hopefully, the lazy bones managed to set everything up properly...

Cross weakly struggles in his binds as he sniffles and trembles. The taller skeleton had tied him to a chair very tightly before leaving him alone. His wrists have been bound to the back of it and it really hurt to move them. He had felt something very sharp dig into them the one time he'd tried, so he'd immediately stopped moving with a gasp of pain and tears had filled his eyesockets. Both his wrists are still stinging, but he tries not to think about how they are most likely badly cut and bleeding marrow. Instead, he tries to concentrate on his tied legs and feet, trying to see if he can move them enough to get them free. 

After a few minutes of attempting to do this, he stills with a defeated whimper. It's no use. Without help he's never getting out of here...

Cross chooses to take a look around the prison he finds himself in. He flinches as he sees a couple of sharp objects on a table close by. He immediately looks away, not wanting to see the tools the skeletons could use to hurt him later. He really doesn't want to think about that right now! He needs another distraction to take his mind off that. 

On further inspection of the room he notices that there seems to only be one exit; the door that the taller skeleton left through a short while ago. Cross knows that he's standing outside of it still, since he didn't hear him walk away. He hadn't said anything to him while he had tied him up. Cross had remained silent as the other worked, scared he'd get hurt if he didn't. The shorter skeleton had told him not to hurt him yet though, so Cross guesses he must be the one in charge. The taller had still been pretty rough with him when he first tackled him to the ground though, so he's sure he must have some bruises and cuts now all over his small frame. It had been really hard not to cry out or fight back against the other when he was being tied against the chair, but fear won out in the end and allowed him to stay quiet and still while it happened. He had hoped he could escape when he left the shed, but luck did not appear to be on his side today.

He's absolutely terrified that they'll both come in soon. He shudders, thinking about the way the smaller skeleton had smiled at him so maliciously. That one is really dangerous and wants to hurt him, he can tell. He really wishes he could just curl up into the smallest ball he can make to protect his soul, but it's impossible to do so with the way he's been restrained.

Big purple tears roll down his cheeks as he thinks about how easily he got caught and realises just how weak and vulnerable he really is. His captors can easily injure or kill him... and he can't do a thing to stop them.

He lies his skull back as far as he can and stares at the ceiling in despair, wishing he never got the stupid idea to leave the hideout. Doing this makes him feel slightly light-headed and dizzy, so Cross closes his eye sockets in frustration and anger. He had just wanted a little time to himself, to get away from everything for a bit and look at what had happened as a result! 

Nightmare had warned him it was dangerous outside the hideout so many times and that he had to stay there for his own safety. 

Why didn't he listen? 

He just _had_ to have the _brilliant_ idea to go off on his own and show everyone how brave he could be. Why did he think he could do anything on his own when he's so _small and worthless_!? 

_He's such an idiot!_

_He's useless!_

_Pathetic!_

_Weak_

With every insult he calls himself, Cross loses hope that the gang are looking for him. After all, why would anyone want to protect him? Why would they bother to look for him when he just makes everything worse for them?

It's also entirely his own fault he's in this mess in the first place. 

Even if they do search for him, the gang might never find him here, meaning... 

_He won't see them ever again..._

_What's going to happen to him?_

He hears footsteps approaching outside the door and tries to struggle in his binds once again, a last ditch effort to escape. 

As soon as he hears the whispering outside the door he goes limp, knowing there's no way he's getting out of here and not wanting to be heard trying to escape by the smaller skeleton, since he presumes that's who the taller one is talking to. Might as well accept the fact he has no control here and his captors can do whatever they want. He's so screwed...

Sans enters the shed, smiling as he sees the Dark Sans tied to the chair, looking at him with fear written all over his face. He closes the door behind him and locks it as an extra precaution, even though he knows Papyrus is keeping watch outside. He wouldn't be surprised if his brother fell asleep while guarding the door, so he just wants to make sure no one curious enough to know what's happening here will get in.

Approaching Cross causes the child to tremble immensely and his breathing to quicken, but he doesn't try to fight the bonds, Sans notices. He's honestly surprised about how cooperative he's being so far. 

But as Sans inspects the ropes to ensure that his brother did a satisfactory job of tying the child to the chair, he notices that marrow is dripping from cuts on Cross's wrists. His wrists had been tied in a way that if moved too much, the rope used would cut deep into the bone, thanks to it's sharp edges. 

So Cross _did_ try to struggle after all, _despite_ his warning. Of course the foolish child thought he could try to escape when nobody was watching him... That was a big mistake, one that he'd be sure not to let slide.

Sans scowls as he realises Cross must have lost quite a bit of marrow at this stage and is probably feeling quite faint right now. That wouldn't work for the interrogation. He'll have to heal him just a bit, otherwise Cross would probably fall unconscious soon. _What a pain..._

Starting up his healing magic, he grabs the child's wrists and begins restoring them so that marrow will stop dripping out from the cuts, but not strong enough that it'll stop them hurting entirely.

Cross feels his wrists being grabbed by the other and his view blurs at the edges. He lets out a pained gasp and winces at the contact. Stars, that hurt! He wants to try to rip them out of his grip so bad, but knows that's a terrible idea. Did the other see he had tried to escape and is going to punish him for it? He closes his eye sockets and braces, waiting for the other to hurt him further.

He's confused when the pain lessens a little. What's happening? Is the other healing him? Why would he do that?

Sans drops his magic and lets go of the others wrists with a squeeze to cause him some more pain and hopefully wake him up a little. It's what he gets for thinking he could get away with being disobedient.

He towers over the other threateningly, looking furious as he stares down at the young skeleton. "I thought I told you _not_ to struggle. The injury you've sustained is completely your own fault and is what happens when you don't listen to orders. Think about that the next time you try anything."

Cross suppresses a yelp when his wrists are squeezed, causing most of the pain he was feeling before to come back. His view sharpens as the pain causes him to wake up a bit. His wrists are in agony.

He cowers when the other looks down at him angrily, meeting the others eyes despite being so scared. He tries to convey to him that he's sorry by giving him a timid, frightened look. He won't try escaping again, just don't hurt him anymore please!

Sans frowns and lets out a sigh of annoyance as the other stares at him with his stupid pleading eye lights, making it look like he's some sort of scared puppy who's afraid of getting yelled at again. It pisses him off slightly for some reason, but he decides not to focus on that. It's about time he starts the interrogation. He hopes the loss of marrow won't affect the others ability to answer his questions.

Walking over to the back of the chair, he grabs hold of the cloth tied behind the other's skull, feeling a slight flinch as he does so. He leans forward so he's talking right into Cross's non-existent ear. "If you yell or scream, this is going straight back on." He tugs on the cloth slightly so Cross understands what he's talking about. "Try anything like that and I _will_ punish you for your actions. You're only to speak when I ask you something. Am I clear?" 

Cross continues looking straight in front of him as the other walks around to the back of his chair. He tries not to shake or move away as he feels the skeletons phalanges touching the back of his skull where the cloth is tied. Hearing the other's words, he nods slowly in agreement. He's not going to do anything. He's way too terrified to try.

Sans takes it off hesitantly, waiting to see if Cross is going to disobey him. He can't afford to have him scream and alert the monsters of Snowdin to his presence. It would raise too many questions and Sans doesn't want to deal with that right now. 

When Cross stays quiet, Sans takes it away entirely, still keeping a close eye on him, but overall satisfied with his behaviour. He decides to give the child a second to catch his breath when the other starts coughing a small bit. It's not like he's going anywhere.

Cross can't suppress the small cough that escapes him as the cloth is removed. The gag had been really uncomfortable and made it really difficult to breathe. At least he's able to breathe easier now, though every breath he takes is shaky as a result of being so terrified. He watches the other nervously, waiting for the skeleton to do or say something to him.

Sans grins widely as Cross looks back at him expectantly, awaiting him to begin questioning. He almost feels like praising the child for his good behaviour. Almost.

"Let's begin then. We'll start with something simple." He leans over the other and places a hand on the back over the chair, smirking evilly. "Are you going to answer all my questions quickly and honestly Cross?"

Cross's voice shakes as he forces himself to answer. He knows he has to agree with the question or the other will get angry at him. "Y-Yes."

Sans smiles down at him, happy with his cooperation... _for now_. "Alright then. Let's see if you really will be able to be honest with me. If not, well... you know what happens~."

He heads over to the table and inspects the items that have been placed there by his brother. He doesn't plan on hurting the child yet, he just needs to get the message across that he could. Grabbing a particular large, sharp knife he goes back over to Cross, brandishing it in front of him.

Cross's eye sockets widen when he sees the object in the other's hand and he trembles harder in pure terror. Is this skeleton already planning on hurting him? Did he say something wrong?!

Sans chooses to inspect the knife as he asks his next question. "Do you know why I had you tied up and brought here, Cross?"

Cross shakes his skull. "N-No. I d-don't." He honestly has no idea. He hopes that answer won't anger the other.

Sans scowls, still looking at the knife. "It's because of your association with _Nightmare_ , since you're apparently a member of his gang. Am I correct?"

Cross tenses when the other mentions Nightmare. What did this skeleton want with his father-figure? Does he plan on hurting him too? "Y-Yeah." He admits hesitantly.

Sans actually growls upon hearing that answer and his grip on the knife tightens. "Nightmare is a _threat_ to the multiverse that needs to be stopped. He and the rest of your gang attacked and raided this town earlier, completely emptying it of all the best supplies. There is **nothing** left for us. Tell me..." He points the sharp end of the knife dangerously close to Cross's neck vertebrae with a crazed look on his face. "...did you know about this raid, Cross?"

Cross leans as far away from the knife as he can without trying to make the other mad. He looks directly into the other's eye lights as he answers truthfully. "N-No, I didn't... I... I came here by m-myself without t-them. They didn't m-mention any raids to me! I p-promise I d-didn't know!"

Sans lowers the knife a little, looking at him now with intrigue. "How did you get here then?"

Cross still trembles under the others gaze, despite the knife being further away now. "I... I went through a p-portal that led from the h-hideout to here... I c-can't open them myself t-though, it was already t-there when I found it." He decides to add in case the skeleton expects him to be able to open one for him. He has no idea how to yet. Even if he did know, he would never willingly open one for the other and put his family in danger. He doesn't want them to get hurt because of his mistakes.

Sans can tell he's speaking the truth. He's not sure what age Cross is, but he doubts the child would be able to conjure up something so complicated with his current magic abilities. It would explain why he was just sitting out in the forest looking like he was waiting for something to happen. He was obviously waiting for a portal to appear there, for someone to pick him up. Sans wonders if he can even create any form of attack with his magic yet. Probably not.

"Did Nightmare send you here to spy then?" He questions, not understanding why else the child would be in the AU. Surely Nightmare knew his member would be in danger here? Maybe he didn't care?

Cross looks down at the floor away from the other, feeling ashamed. "No. H-He d-doesn't k-know I'm h-here. I d-didn't tell anyone I was leaving the h-hideout. I wasn't supposed to, b-but I just w-wanted to g-go out for a m-minute. They w-weren't meant to find out I even went h-here." Well, now they would _definitely_ know soon, if not already, that he had taken off. He feels so guilty for ignoring all those warnings.

Sans can see the regret written clearly on the others face. So the child thought he could be disobedient and run from Nightmare and the others, did he. The king of negativity is most likely furious at his behaviour, or he guesses he is anyway. He wonders if Nightmare would even be looking for Cross or does he actually care that much. Does he even know that Cross is gone? Sans frowns at that thought. If Nightmare doesn't care about the child, then how is he going to use Cross against him?

"Do you think he's even searching for you, since you left without his permission and disobeyed him?" Sans asks.

Cross lowers his skull further and closes his eye sockets as a tear trickles down his cheek. "I... I don't know." He admits honestly, sounding defeated.

"Tch." Sans clicks his tongue in annoyance making Cross look back up at him with fearful eyelights. Seems like Nightmare might not care enough for the child to come to retrieve him, meaning any threats he makes to Cross possibly won't affect the king of negativity in any way. That definitely ruins _some_ of his plans. Oh well. He can still get the information he wants and he'll still be able to have some fun later~.

"Let's move on then." Sans says while using the cloth from earlier to wipe the knife clean of some dust he's found on it. He doesn't believe it to be monster dust, but he's not going to tell Cross that. It'll work better for Sans if he thinks it is. "Can you give me some _good_ information about Nightmare or any of the other members of the gang. Any weaknesses that can be exploited, to _injure_ or possibly even _kill_ them?"

Cross's eyes widen, now knowing for sure that this skeleton really does want to kill his family and most likely him as well. He wants to protect them, since they tried their best to protect him while he was with them. It was his own fault he didn't listen. He looks away from the others eye lights. "I do-don't know any." He stammers anxiously. He won't be telling him anything that can hurt his family... even if he might get hurt for concealing information about them. He's not going to give in!

Sans huffs, scowling at the other angrily as he brings the knife close to his face. The young skeleton is lying to him. "Cross... I know you're not telling me the truth right now." 

Nervous sweat gathers on Cross's skull as the knife is brought closer and he squirms the tiniest bit away from it. "I-I am. I d-don't k-know any. T-They n-never s-said anything about w-weaknesses!" He tells the other, struggling to keep his voice down as he panics a small bit.

Sans is becoming pretty _impatient_ with Cross now. First, it turns out that he's pretty much useless to blackmail Nightmare with and now he's refusing to answer his questions honestly. It might finally be time to start forcing answers from him. He smiles maliciously at the thought, slightly glad the child is rebelling against him now as it gives him an excuse to finally start getting some proper revenge.

"Last chance Cross. I'm not going to ask again. Tell me what you know and I won't have to hurt you." His left eyelight flares with magic to show the other he's serious.

Cross shudders, terrified of the look on the skeleton's face. But he refuses to give in. "I c-can't." 

Sans smirks evilly, actually quite happy that the other just refused his final generous offer to talk. The hard way it is~.

He can't have Cross scream out as he punishes him though so he'll have to gag him once again. He looks at the cloth still in his hand that was used to muffle Cross earlier and frowns. It was only meant to temporarily silence him as he was brought here. It won't work very well if he wants to keep him quiet while he's... _working_ and it won't be able to silence him completely. If he trashes around or struggles it could easily get loose and allow him to make too much noise. He can't have that happening.

He walks back to the items on his table and smiles when he finds what he's looking for. Papyrus had stolen some things from Undyne's lab for him to use on some of his victims. The gag he now holds in his hand can be tightened very easily to fit anybody of Cross's stature and then can be locked in place using his magic. It was meant to be for the next human that fell, but Sans thinks he'll use it instead for this occasion. No matter how much Cross struggles, he won't be able to move it and it will almost completely silence any sounds that come out of his mouth.

He puts the knife down on the table for the moment ,since he has a feeling he might need both of his hands to put it on the other's skull. He turns around and faces Cross again, his smile insane at this point. "I told you what would happen if you didn't answer honestly. Let's see if you're more willing to talk after I'm done with you~."

Cross sees the other approaching him and immediately starts panicking, thrashing in his bonds as he tries to get away from him. He knows he's going to get hurt no matter what he does now, so he doesn't see the point in staying still or silent anymore. 

"No! Stop! Please!! **NIGHTMAR-** mmpf!" He attempts to scream for help, but is muffled as the other places the gag around his mouth. Cross continues to struggle and fight back as the other tries to tighten the gag around his skull, trying to stop the other from silencing him entirely again. 

Sans growls as Cross tries to call out for help. Of course the stupid child would try to fight back and yell now of all times. Sans gets more and more furious as he refuses to stay still for him. He's had enough of this now. He slaps the other hard on the back of his skull, causing it to fling forward. Sans grabs it and forces it back as he finally is able to work on the gag without the other moving.

He shouts furiously at Cross. "What did I tell you about fighting me!? Now stay still and shut it! You're just making everything worse for yourself by fighting back, so why bother? Nobody is coming to save you, so just accept the fact you're stuck here with me. You obey me now, not Nightmare."

Cross lets out a pained gasp as he's slapped and goes still from shock. He winces as the other grabs his skull again and yells at him, making it hurt even worse. His vision becomes blurry from the pain as tears fill his eyes. The other tightens the gag around his skull, effectively silencing him and making it really hard to breathe. 

Closing his eye sockets, he sobs silently as he admits to himself that he's defeated. He's going to die here...

Sans is able to work better now that the other has stilled. After making sure it's secure, Sans locks the gag in place with his magic. It won't be shaken off by the child no matter what he tries now. It will stay in place and silence him no matter how loudly he screams and Sans is the only one able to unlock it with his magic. He smiles at that thought.

Looking back at Cross's face now, he can tell that he's done with his little rebellion now and is accepting the fact that he's not escaping this. He cups the other's chin to inspect the gag and make sure the child is still conscious. Cross's eye sockets shoot open, but he doesn't struggle as he just stares at Sans' face, looking tired and scared. Sans grins at him. "Let's get started then. Shall we~?"

He watches as Cross's eye sockets widen and tears fall down his face before he turns, intending to walk back towards the table to grab the knife from earlier. 

Cross watched him as he turned but then immediately shut his eyesockets again, not wanting to see how the other planned to hurt him. He trembles as he attempts to brace for the pain that is to come.

Sans hasn’t even taken a step towards the table to grab the knife again when a portal starts to form near the doorway, blocking his exit outside the shed.

So Nightmare had come to collect the kid after all then. _Interesting_... 

Sans chooses to conjure one of the sharpest bones he can make with his magic and presses its tip against the side of Cross’s neck vertebrae. It’s not pushed in hard enough to draw any marrow... yet.

Sans doesn’t have a second to spare before the portal opens and a couple of enraged skeletons appear in the room, their weapons at the ready. His eyelights immediately fall on Nightmare who is at the front of the group. His tentacles are whipping around agitatedly like they’ve got a mind of their own and Sans is sure he can feel the others rage and killing intent all around him. ~~He’d be lying to himself if he says he doesn’t feel threatened right now.~~

His grip on his weapon tightens when one of Nightmare’s lackeys, Killer if he remembers correctly from Ink’s descriptions, takes a step forward towards him. He grabs the back of Cross’s skull and holds it up for the others to see his terrified face.

His left eyelight flashes in warning. “Take another step forward and I’ll be plunging this bone deep into this child’s skull.” He narrows his eye sockets at them, trying to study their reactions to his movements. “And I’m sure you don’t want that considering you came all this way for him.”

He knows he can’t take them all on at once, so he’ll call Papyrus to teleport the three of them away from here in a moment. He isn’t finished with Cross just yet after all. But first... Sans wants to see just how Nightmare reacts to the child’s current situation.

Cross didn’t even realize his family had arrived until the skeleton had lifted up his skull and threatened to hurt him if they moved another step. His eyesockets had immediately opened to see them all standing there, glaring at his attacker with hatred. 

He’s still very scared of the skeleton that’s currently holding a weapon to his cervical vertebrae, but he also feels so happy and relieved that the gang came here to rescue him. 

Nightmare growls lowly at the Sans standing in front of him. How dare this freak kidnap and threaten one of his.

He takes a quick glance at Cross and doesn’t miss the way his eyelights are begging, possibly screaming even for their help as he trembles in the chair he’s been tied to. 

His youngest member has been captured, tied up, gagged and injured by this imbecile, just because of his association with his group. This Sans would actually kidnap, hurt and traumatize a child associated with them if it meant he’d get some information about the gang out of them. Monsters like this make him _**sick**_.

“ **Let. Him. Go.** ” He demands, snarling at the other. If Cross wasn’t watching, he would have already torn this asshole to shreds, but he doesn’t want to traumatize the young skeleton any further today.

Sans gives him a fake offended look. “You act as if I was purposely hurting your precious gang member, but all I did was ask him a couple of questions. Isn’t that right, Cross?” He pats the child twice on the skull, acting like he’s being friendly to him.

The monochrome skeleton can’t help but shiver when the other touches him and he grimaces. He’s unable to look at Nightmare right now, afraid he’ll be angry at him for telling the kidnapper about the gang.

The guardian of negativity’s eyelight goes wide at the scene, his scowl deepening watching this Sans **_touch_** Cross in that way. “ **Get your filthy hands off of him!** ”

Sans almost beams at his reaction. “Oh? Can it be that the king of pain and fear himself _actually cares_ about you, Cross? How _adorable_.”

He keeps an eyelight on the dark skeleton in front of him, noticing that his glare has become more intense, though Nightmare doesn’t say anything else, confirming his suspicions. Cross is indeed valuable to Nightmare.

How much would someone pay for that information? How much would Nightmare pay to get him back unharmed? Sans’ smile becomes unhinged, thinking of all the uses the child now has to him. He should probably be leaving soon, if he wishes to get out of here alive with Cross.

“Well as much as we’d love to stay here and chat, I think it’s about time me and Cross go to a more... secure location to talk.” He grabs the back of the chair, about to call his brother to get them out.

Cross immediately begins to squirm when the the other says that. His family are right there waiting to save him, he doesn’t want to be taken away from them! If only his attacker wasn’t threatening him, then he’d already be safe with them! He just wants to go home!

His movements cause the bone that is pressing against his vertebrae to dig into his neck, making marrow leak from the injury.

He cries out in pain, but it is silenced by the gag around his mouth. Tears fall from his eyesockets and he sniffles. It really _hurts_ right now!

Something snaps in Nightmare when he sees the small drops of marrow trickling down Cross’s vertebrae. He’s had _enough_ of this.

“Cross.” He calls out in a soft, yet serious tone to the young skeleton, who’s eyelights immediately shoot upward to meet his gaze. “Close your eye sockets and keep them like that until I tell you to open them, alright?”

The monochrome skeleton immediately reacts by shutting them tightly. Nightmare grins widely at the skeleton holding the child hostage. Now he can work on making him pay for this.

Before the Sans is able to respond, Nightmare sends out one of his tentacles and slices it through the air to break the other’s weapon into pieces. His opponent attempts to summon another weapon and grab Cross, but Nightmare is faster. Grabbing his ankle, he trips the other skeleton up so he lands on his back and quickly covers him from his neck to his toes in tentacles within seconds. Sans attempts to struggle but finds that doing so causes Nightmare to squeeze him harder. Oh, how much he wants to _crush every bone_ in this freak's body right now.

But Cross comes first.

Keeping the asshole held tightly in the tentacles behind his back, Nightmare walks over to stand in front of his youngest gang member.

“Ok, you can open your eyes again, Cross.”

Cross had heard lots of noise while his eye sockets had been closed, which made him fearful about what he’d see when he opened them again. He’s relieved to see Nightmare is now standing right in front of him. He wiggles around in his binds, trying to show that he wants to get out of the chair as quickly as possible.

Nightmare gets the message loud and clear and moves around to the back of the chair. “Stay still for a moment so I can untie you.”

Cross waits for his arms and legs to be free before reaching his arms up to Nightmare, asking desperately to be held.

Nightmare picks the child up gently and holds him close, just wanting to give him some comfort while he inspects the gag that's been locked behind his skull. He scowls when he feels the magic the Sans used that is keeping it locked in place. How dare he do this to one of his boys!

Cross snuggles into the hold as he buries his face into his hoodie and cries a small bit. He's so relieved and thankful that his family came for him. He doesn't even care that he still isn't able to speak or that he still aches in several places, he's just glad he can move and be held by the other. He's actually going to get out of here!

Nightmare knows he's going to have to break the lock if he wishes to get the gag off Cross without asking the Sans to do it. He's not letting that bastard get anywhere near Cross ever again.

He rubs the top of Cross's skull gently as the other looks to him. Nightmare points to the gag. "I'm going to try to get this off now. I'll need you to keep your skull in one place so I can do it without hurting you. Can you do that for me?”

Cross looks into his cyan eye and nods. He's slightly scared that it's going to be painful, but he knows Nightmare won't hurt him on purpose. He'll keep him safe.

The rest of the Dark Sanses and Error watch on as Nightmare works on breaking the magic lock the Sans had made. They're outraged this Sans hurt Cross, especially because he was always their youngest member and thanks to Ink, he's only a child now. They would never do any of this to a child, despite the fact they destroy AUs. They always made sure to give them as much mercy as possible or to avoid destroying too many child AUs like Kindertale if they could. 

What the Sans has done here makes all of them feel sick and furious. They're itching to destroy the place and make this AU pay for this, but they want to make sure Cross is going to be alright first. They'll wait to see if their teammate needed them.

After a few minutes, Nightmare is able to break the lock and take the gag off Cross's skull. Cross immediately feels sicks and leans over to the side away from Nightmare before dry heaving a few times. The dark skeleton rubs his back in comfort the entire time, watching him worriedly. He hopes Cross wasn't drugged.

When he's done, Cross leans into Nightmares hold once again and shakily reaches for one of his tentacles hovering around him protectively nearby. 

"...Ni...Nigh...t.." Cross's voice fails him as he tries to call out to Nightmare.

Nightmare only just hears his quiet murmurs and brings the tentacle closer so that Cross is able to grip it. He's concerned by how weak he seems to be right now, he's barely even holding onto the tentacle and his eye lights are dim and hardly able to focus. 

He places his hand gently on Cross's forehead. "Shh... I'm here. We're all here for you now. Everything is going to be alright. I'm sorry we took so long to find you, Cross. I promise you're safe now and we won't let anybody else hurt you _ever again_ "

Cross relaxes with a sigh and closes his eye sockets, feeling too tired and overwhelmed by everything to attempt to stay awake. His family will protect him now. 

Sans watches all this in confusion from where he's being suspended in the air, unable to even twitch his fingers from how tightly the tentacles are squeezing him. Nightmare is... comforting the child? He was told Nightmare pretty much cared about nobody, not even those who worked under him. It's obvious from the scene in front of him that this is not the case. 

From the glares he's receiving from all of the gang members, he can tell that they all want to kill him for what he has done to Cross, even though he had barely begun what he'd been planning to do. 

Struggling in the other's tentacles just make them tighten more and summoning his magic attacks had failed. He's also surrounded by the other Dark Sanses and Error, the supposed 'Destroyer of Worlds.' He's smart enough to know he's outnumbered and his chances of victory are not looking good. He knows his odds of getting out of this one are very slim. It's clear now that kidnapping the child had been a grave mistake. 

Nightmare worriedly checks Cross as he falls unconscious to make sure that the child isn't about to dust. He's relieved to read from his stats that he just fell asleep from exhaustion and apart from losing a small fraction of his HP, he's fine.

He looks up in fury at the one who did all this to his youngest member. _A child._ " **You**."

Walking closer to the other, he tightens the tentacles he's holding the skeleton with so that he's gasping for air. The tentacles that are not in use are writhing around behind him as he scowls at the other in fury. " **Did you really think you could hurt one of mine and get away with it? You're going to pay for everything you did to Cross. In fact, your _entire_ AU is going to pay for this.**"

Nightmare grins menacingly at the other. " **Any last words?** "

He's squeezing the other way too tightly to get any sort of answer. He smirks as the other tries to summon yet another attack and fails miserably as Nightmare snaps his radius, causing him to take a sharp intake of breath as he refuses to give Nightmare the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

Knowing he has to attend to Cross sooner rather than later, Nightmare quickly throws the other around the shed a few times to satisfy his bloodlust, breaking several of his bones and knocking him unconscious. He throws the sorry heap of bones into the corner of the room, then turns away from him to leave. He'll let the others take care of everything else now.

He opens a portal back to the hideout, looking back at the others before he enters. "Make sure there's nothing left, I want there to be no evidence that this copy of Swapfell even existed. I'll go and heal Cross."

He gets nods and several wide grins before turns and goes through the portal with Cross, landing in their living room. Before closing it, he notices all of them circling the unconscious Sans, their weapons out, ready to sink into the unconscious skeleton. He closes the portal knowing his boys will show them all what happens when they mess with any of his and smiles at that thought.

Wasting no time, he walks towards the nearest cabinet and thankfully finds a first aid kit and some healing gel inside. He picks those up using his tentacles and walks over to the couch and sits down, laying Cross on his lap so his skull is resting on his chest.

Nightmare starts applying the healing gel to every cut, scrape and bruise he finds on the other. The cuts on his wrists and vertebrae are definitely the most injured, so Nightmare puts a large amount of the gel on both of them.

Cross whines in his sleep and moves a bit when he feels something touch his wrists.

_Please, no more pain! Stop touching them!_

Nightmare hushes him gently as he begins rubbing Cross's back slowly, carefully and purposely to help him to sleep. "Relax, little one. You're safe and back in the hideout. I'm just healing some of your injuries right now, you've got nothing to fear anymore."

Cross calms when he hears the dark skeletons soothing voice. It's so different from the scary voice of the skeleton that attacked him. It makes him feel like everything will be alright. He cuddles into Nightmare unconsciously.

Nightmare sighs looking down at the child in sadness, feeling ashamed and angry at himself. How could he let this happen after he promised to protect Cross? He should have known something like this could happen and that many monsters of the multiverse would want to get their hands on Cross now that he was vulnerable. He'd just been protecting him from the Star Sanses before, but now it seems like the whole multiverse might be ok with the idea of hurting Cross to get back at them. 

Knowing the Sans could have done a lot worse to Cross makes him subconsciously cuddle him closer as he continues applying the gel. Thank stars they got to him quick enough to prevent all that. 

He'll have to ask Cross what he'd been doing before he got kidnapped and how it all happened when he wakes up, but he's not going to be too harsh on him no matter what his story is. He's been through so much already. He also needs to clean Cross up further, but doesn't want to wake him when it's clear he needs to rest. It could wait a bit longer.

When he believes he's found and applied the healing gel to every wound, he places the container down and wraps his tentacles loosely around Cross in a hug. He silently promises him that he'll never let anything like this happen again to him or one of the others. He'll do a better job of protecting them all from now on and Ink will pay for being the cause of this. He closes his cyan eye and begins drifting off, still holding the other close. 

Cross wakes up a few minutes later, still feeling very tired, to see his injuries healed and Nightmare sleeping as he holds him. He yawns widely and snuggles into his hold as he settles down to sleep once again, a smile on his face. Nothing bad will happen as long as Nightmare is here. He's so glad for his protection and comfort. He drifts off once again feeling happy and safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, everything is fine now!!!
> 
> ......
> 
> Come yell at me in the comments if you wish :3!
> 
> Edit 23rd September 2020  
> I went back over this chapter and edited it fully, so hopefully I got all the grammar mistakes fixed now ^^'.


	2. Won’t let go. (Bonus Fluff Chapter) G.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute, fluff chapter.
> 
> Cross plays with Nightmare and ends up clinging to one of his tentacles for the entire day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to BookwyrmFinallyGotAnAccount for this idea. I couldn’t resist writing this as soon as I read about Cross playing with Nightmare’a tentacles kind of like a cat. I practically dropped everything I was doing to write this because I NEEDED to haha :D.

Cross smiles as he sneaks towards his target, wanting to jump out and surprise him. He doesn’t think the other has noticed his approach yet since he’s currently distracted washing stuff in the sink. This is going to be fun!

Nightmare had noticed Cross approaching him but kept quiet as he watched him trying to be stealthy in the reflection of a glass he’d been trying to clean. He finds it cute how Cross actually thinks he’s being quiet even though he could be easily heard from anywhere in the room. The child’s loud footsteps and occasional giggles made him hard to miss.

Cross gets closer and closer to Nightmare until he pounces at one of his tentacles, clinging to it tightly as Nightmare looks towards him, an amused look on his face.

“Got you!” Cross yells, giggling as he climbs onto the tentacle and stays there as he grips it with both his arms and legs. “Was I really sneaky?” He asks excitedly as he practically hangs upside down from the tentacle.

Nightmare chuckles. Cross can be very cute at times. If Killer is around he knows the other will try to get photos of Cross clinging to him like this. 

“Very sneaky. I barely saw you coming.”

“Yay!!!” Cross cheers, a victorious grin on his face. He’s getting really good at this game! This morning he had already successfully snuck up on Killer, Horror and Dust too! Maybe he can try with Error and Fresh when they arrive later? For now though, he’s enjoying hanging onto Nightmares tentacle. It’s really fun up here!

Nightmare lowers the tentacle so Cross is able to climb down. “Ready to come down from there now?”

Cross clings tighter, making a pouty face. “No! This is mine now! I caught it fair and square! Don’t wanna come down!”

Nightmare shrugs, still smiling at Cross’s actions. “If you’re sure Cross. Tell me when you want to come down ok?” He presumes Cross will get bored soon and will want to climb down then. He highly underestimates him.

Cross ended up clinging to him for the rest of the day, much to his and the others amusement. He was determined to keep holding on to him for as long as possible and nothing made him want to come down. 

Nightmare didn’t mind, Cross wasn’t that heavy anyway and seeing him so happy definitely made the whole experience worthwhile. He didn’t care if he was behind on his paperwork because of this.

Killer made sure to take full advantage of the opportunity to get plenty of photos of cute Cross, much to the child’s embarrassment at times.

At one stage, Cross fell asleep while still holding on to the tentacle tightly and everyone had watched him happily as he rested his head against it and nuzzled it while he slept, snoring slightly.

Nightmare decided to head to his room then in order to give Cross some quiet to sleep peacefully away from the others. He gently placed Cross on the bed allowing him to continue holding the tentacle as he went to grab a chair. He knew there was a chance he’d be there for a while. He sat down to read then, looking away from his book every once in a while to see how Cross was doing.

He sighed softly, shaking his head as he turned back to his book once again. He smiles to himself happily. The things he did to keep his boys happy...


	3. A Pet For Cross (Non-canon humour/fluff) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross begs Nightmare for a pet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to PrincessJaybird for this idea. I just thought it was so cute and had to write it. Hope this is what you wanted ^^.
> 
> Let me know what you all think!

Nightmare feels a little tug on his hoodie and looks down to see Cross looking up at him with huge eye sockets, his eye lights looking hopeful. Oh stars... Nightmare knows what this look means. Cross is about to beg him for something and Nightmare is never very good at denying him his requests. He just can’t say no when Cross ends up following him around the hideout with sad eye lights for the rest of the day if he doesn’t get him what he wants. He hopes he doesn’t beg for more chocolate...

“Yes Cross? Did you need something?” He asks somewhat cautiously.

Cross hops nervously from one foot to another. He hopes Nightmare will get him what he asks for. “Um... Can I have a pet!? Please please please!? I promise I’ll look after it!” He makes his best pleading face, the one he knows the others can’t resist.

Nightmares’ eye widens while he screams internally. He actually wishes Cross asked for chocolate now. Of course the child would have to find out about pets from somewhere, just to make his life more difficult! How in the multiverse is he going to get out of this one without making Cross upset!?

He rubs the back of his skull nervously. “What made you interested in wanting a pet all of a sudden can I ask?”

Cross beams. “Oh, Killer brought me a really cool book where one of the characters had a cute pet to look after and play with! I thought it would be nice to have one too and... I thought you might say yes if I asked... so can I have one?” He gives him a hopeful look.

Nightmare sighs, rubbing Cross’s skull gently as the child looks up to him expectantly. “I’ll think about it. But let me talk to Killer for a bit first. Can you watch some TV in here while I speak to him?”

Cross pouts, looking up at Nightmare with a grumpy face. “Fine...”

Nightmare chuckles, giving him a quick pat on the head before turning to leave. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Killer smirks from his seat in the dining room as he sees an annoyed Nightmare approaching him. He had been waiting for this moment the entire day. Cross must have asked then.

Nightmare sees the others’ smirk and gives him a knowing look. “You gave Cross that book knowing full well he was going to ask me for a pet, didn’t you?”

Killer leans back in the chair, smiling smugly. “I might have.”

Nightmare groans into his hands. “Why would you do that? You know I’ve said so many times that we can’t get a pet because of our jobs.”

Killer shrugs. “Hey, he asked me for a new book so I got him one. Not my fault it gave him the idea of getting a pet.” Ok it was actually totally his fault, but Nightmare didn’t need to know that. He had specifically chosen that book for that reason after all. Nightmare always denied them pets so he hoped a cute Cross could persuade him. Just the idea of Cross trying his best to look after something made him smile.

Nightmare gives him a look but doesn’t comment on it any further. “What am I going to do though? I don’t want to have to deal with Cross sulking for the rest of the day because I refused to get him one”.

Killer grins. He had been thinking of a solution to this problem that would allow Cross to have a pet that wouldn’t be difficult to look after. Something that would make all of them smile. “I might have an idea of how we can all be happy...”

The next day Cross runs up to Nightmare excitedly. “Nightmare!!! I need more sprinkles!”

Nightmare looks to him in confusion. “Haven’t you fed him already today?”

Cross nods. “Still hungry though, I need more.”

Nightmare sighs, using his tentacles to open a cabinet to grab a jar of sprinkles from one of the shelves. The jar has been labeled 'Food for Roky'. Cross had given his new pet rock that name after thinking on it for a while and had happily written it’s name on the jar. He honestly thinks that it’s adorable how Cross is trying his best to take care of the rock. He hands him the jar. “Don’t give them all to Roky at once, we need to have enough to last a while.”

Cross quickly thanks Nightmare for the sprinkles and runs off to feed Roky in his room. He was happy to get a rock when it was suggested to him, since Dust, Killer and Horror had all apparently had pet rocks in the past too and he wanted to have a pet just like theirs! He can tell that seeing him feed Roky the sprinkles brings back happy memories for each of them, which makes him happy too!

He shakes the jar gently and some sprinkles fall out on to the rock. Cross giggles and pets Roky happily. He’s glad Nightmare agreed in the end to get him a pet!

Cross grins as he wonders...  
What else can he persuade Nightmare to get for him~?


	4. A Bad Dream (Canon fluff extra) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross interrupts Nightmares rest after being scared by a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if these kinds of chapters seem repetitive, but I just love writing me some Nightmare and Cross comfort you know?
> 
> Let me know what you think!

“Nightmare?  
...  
Wake up  
...  
Please?”

Nightmare stirs from his sleep as he feels someone continually prodding and calling him. He opens his eye blearily, blinking a few times to wake up a bit. He doubts it’s close to the time he wakes up usually and wonders why one of the group would disturb him at this time while he’s sleeping.

Looking tiredly over to the side, he sees an anxious looking Cross, clutching one of his action figures close to his chest. Nightmare can feel fear and guilt coming from him in waves.

“Are you alright, Cross? Is something wrong?” Nightmare asks him worriedly.

Cross sniffles a bit. He feels bad he woke up Nightmare when he was sleeping but he didn’t really want to be left alone and he feels better whenever the other was around.

“I um... I had a bad dream...” He admits, looking down at his feet. It was a silly problem to annoy Nightmare with, he knows that, but the dream had really scared him. All of his family had dusted around him one by one and he could do nothing to stop it. He had just watched it happen and then he was left all alone in this desolate AU. He’s scared that might actually happen, even if he knows it was just a stupid dream. Still though, it couldn’t hurt to check to make sure everyone was alright.... and then come to Nightmare to cuddle with hopefully. “I didn’t want to wake you... but I couldn’t sleep after having it. Can I stay with you? Please?”

Nightmare smiles sympathetically at Cross. Sometimes the gang got nightmares when he was particularly tired and was unable to stop them from occurring. He blames the amount of paperwork he’s had to do recently.

He lifts his covers off him slightly, inviting the child to climb into his bed. “Do you want to-oof!” Cross cuts him off by practically jumping into his side and hugging his side tightly, knocking the wind out of him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks gently. If Cross is clinging to him this tightly he knows it must’ve really affected him.

Cross shakes his head. He’ll probably tell him in the morning, but he’s pretty exhausted right now. “Too tired. Just wanna sleep.”

Nightmare nods and begins humming a small tune to help Cross sleep. He used to sing this one to Dream sometimes back when they still lived together in Dreamtale. It always made him fall asleep pretty quickly so he hopes it does the same for Cross now. He smiles at that memory. Sometimes it was nice to remember those good times with his brother before it had all gone to shit. He shakes his head of those thoughts though. He honestly wouldn’t change anything about his life now. He’s happy that he’s able to help and look after the others.

Cross relaxes, enjoying the sound of the others humming and cuddling into him happily. He knows he won’t have any more bad dreams when he’s with the other.

Nightmare finishes the tune to notice that Cross is sound asleep. He uses his tentacles to grab his blanket and pull it over the child, tucking him in gently. 

This time he’ll watch over him and make sure that no nightmares plague him while he sleeps. Hopefully whatever bothered Cross in the dream will never come to pass. He’ll make sure that it won’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I mention that this scene happens before Cross gets caught by the Star Sanses...
> 
> Yep... it does. So technically a part of that dream came through for a bit =>. Also it’s based on other things that have happened to him before as well. I wonder will anyone pick up on what I’m talking about...
> 
> Also I thought it would be cute if Cross were to call it a bad dream instead of a nightmare since he doesn’t like something bad being associated with goopdad. :3


	5. Good Nightmares (Short Canon Extra) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BookwyrmFinallyGotAnAccount: “dude imagine cross calling dreams "good nightmares'”
> 
> I just had to write this :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short I know but I’ll have a longer chapter ready for later :3.
> 
> Just wanted to post this as an official chapter since this most likely definitely happened at some stage in the main story and I think it’s cute.

Dream walks into Cross's room in the Star Sanses base with the intent of waking him up. He gently prods him until the child stirs, rubbing his eye sockets as he looks to Dream tiredly.

"Good morning, Cross." He cheerfully greets the other. "Did you sleep well?"

Cross nods still looking pretty tired. "Yeah... I had a really good nightmare last night..."

Dream frowns. Did he just hear the child correctly? "Do you mean a good dream?"

Cross almost flinches upon hearing that, he forgot where he was for a moment and had let his act slip. "Oh yeah, I meant to say that. Sorry, I'm still pretty sleepy"

Dream frowns a bit but shrugs it off. Cross is pretty young and would make mistakes from time to time after all.

After all nightmares couldn't be good... could they?


	6. Making Friends (Canon fluff) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error makes Cross a puppet to comfort him after he’s rescued. Cross won’t settle for just one though...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Natsu for this idea. It’s a bit different to what you suggested but I hope you still enjoy as it still has the same kind of idea ^^.
> 
> Let me know what you all think!

Error sits on the gang’s couch, fully engaged with working on a doll of Cross as the child plays with his action figures on the floor in front of him. The others were out on a mission and Fresh had been occupied with something so Error had come over to watch him. 

He hopes giving Cross the doll will make him happy, since he knows that he’s been having trouble sleeping ever since they saved him from the Star Sanses. Cross could cuddle the doll for comfort if he wanted to, as Error had made sure to make it extra soft and plush for him.

He stops for a moment to inspect his work. The doll seems to be turning out ok so far, he’d even given it the same outfit that Cross is wearing right now, the one he has on the most often these days.

Cross looks up from his game when he notices Error’s hands have stopped moving. He didn’t know what the other was doing but whatever it was, it caused the others hands to become a blur of movement which fascinated him. He tilts his head curiously, trying to stretch to see what Error is examining in his hands.

Error notices Cross’s curious looks and laughs. It’s nice to see someone look so interested about what he’s making. “DO yOU wAnT tO sEe wHaT I’vE bEeN wORkInG oN?”

Cross nods eagerly, crawling up onto the couch to see what Error is doing. His eye lights shine as they land on the doll. “Whoa, is that me!? Cool!!!”

Error grins at him. “YeAh, iT iS. I juSt nEed tO dO a fEw moRe sTitChEs aND thEn iT’LL bE fiNisHed. If yOu liKe iT, tHeN yOu’rE frEe tO keEp it oNcE I hAve iT coMplEtEd.”

Cross bounces excitedly on the couch. “Really!? I get to have it!? Thank you!”

He sits back so the other can work again. “Can I watch as you finish?” He really wanted to see Error work on the doll.

Error nods and starts again, his hands moving quickly as he works. 

Cross’s eyes are trained on his every move as he watches in fascination. Error is really good at this! He wonders if he’s able to create dolls of the other members of the gang too.

Soon Error is finished and he holds the doll out to him. Being careful not to touch him, Cross takes it from Error, feeling the soft material in his hands and looking closely at each of it’s details. It’s so awesome!

Cross cuddles it happily, thanking Error over and over again as he squeezes it tightly to his chest. The doll is really soft and feels amazing to hug!

Error smiles, happy Cross liked it. Hopefully it will comfort him whenever he feels scared or lonely.

Cross beams, still clutching the doll close. “Are you able to make the others as dolls as well!?” He asks excitedly.

Error searches a bag he brought with him to the hideout for more material. “I tHiNk wE shOUld haVe eNoUgh fOr aLL oF thEm hERe. It mIGht taKe a wHile thOUgh, sO aRe yOu oK tO jUst wATch?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Cross responds with a big grin on his face. He crawls closer to Error so he can watch him work better. He doesn’t mind waiting at all if it means he can have a doll for every member of the gang. “Yay!! I’m going to have the coolest collection of dolls in the multiverse!”

Error chuckles, glad that Cross thinks his puppets are cool. A little while later, he’s made a doll of every member of the gang and even managed to make a doll of himself and Fresh when Cross had asked for them. He doesn’t mind making them, since he could work pretty quickly through each one anyway and he found it’s a good way to pass time. Cross’s happy expression when they were all finished made it even more worth it.

Cross is practically covered in the dolls as he holds them all close to him, his eye lights practically shining. He’s amazed that Error made them all so quickly and was able to add in so many small details in so little time. He even gave the Nightmare doll tentacles, which he thinks is really cool!

“Can we put them all in my room now?” He asks, attempting to pick them all up at once from the couch which causes a few of them to fall from his hands back onto the couch. He reaches out for them but nearly ends up dropping his other dolls in the process making him frown a bit.

Error picks them up so Cross doesn’t have to struggle with them. “Do yOu nEEd mE tO heLP yOU cARry sOme of thEM?”

Cross shakes his head looking confident. “Nope, I can do it all by myself.”

The destroyer shrugs, placing the dolls that were dropped carefully into Cross’s arms so he’s able to balance all of them at once. 

They begin walking to his room but Cross is unable to keep them all in his grip as they continually fall from his arms onto the floor. Cross huffs in irritation whenever this happens but refuses to let Error help as he tries to find a different way to hold them all in his arms. He’s determined to do this himself!

The walk which would usually take two minutes at most ends up taking twenty minutes as Cross has to continually stop and bend over to pick up the dolls that fall. 

Error stays with him the entire time, trying not to laugh as Cross drops one or two of the dolls with a groan every few steps. Cross makes a really cute concentration face as he carries them all, readjusting them every once in a while if he thinks one is about to fall (though doing that usually made another doll tumble out of his grip much to Cross’s frustration, making it even harder for Error to not laugh at his misfortune).

Arriving at his room with all the dolls, Cross is feeling pretty proud of himself. He knew he could do it! Even if it did take him a few extra minutes than he thought it would...

Error looks around the room for a moment before holding his hands out to take some of the dolls from him. “ShOuLd wE diSPlaY tHeM oN yOuR sHeLF fOr nOw?”

Cross frowns, holding them all tighter as he takes a step back from Error. He doesn’t want to put them down quite yet... “I want to play with them for a bit.”

Error nods while smiling. Cross really seems to love the dolls. He’s really glad he got the idea to make one for him. “Alright. If you wish...”

Later that day, the others arrive back to the hideout feeling pretty tired. They’d managed to destroy several AUs today, thankfully without the Star Sanses showing up. It had still taken a lot out of them though.

Nightmare is quite surprised when Cross doesn’t come running yo them like he usually does when he hears them get back. He’d been very clingy since they rescued him and Nightmare didn’t have it in him to push Cross away when he’s still clearly afraid of losing them again. He wishes he could do more to help him...

He calls out for Error, knowing he’s keeping an eye on Cross at the moment and should be nearby. He hears a reply coming from Cross’s room and the whole gang make their way over there to say hello to the two of them.

They smile at the sight that greets them. Cross is running around his room, completely immersed in a game he’s playing with dolls that look exactly like them. They recognize the game as one he’d usually play with his action figures, but all of them have been switched out for the dolls. Each of them play a different part in the story Cross had made up. So cute!

Cross beams and skips over to them when he notices their presence. “Yay, you’re all back!!! Can you all play with me please!? I need you to act out this next bit of the story for me! I don’t think I can do this part alone.”

They all agree and eagerly take their doll lookalikes from Cross. As usual, everyone takes their role very seriously as the game is played out and Cross giggles as they use funny voices for some of the characters. He enjoys games where the others joined in the best and he loved that they all got really engaged with it. 

They all have great fun playing with Cross, glad to hear him laughing and enjoying himself. They also compliment Error on the design and material of each doll, making Error blush blue in embarrassment as he thanked them.

As they finish the game, Cross takes all the dolls back and manages to find each of them a spot on his bed much to his delight. 

The dolls all sitting on his bed make him feel safe and protected. He’d been scared of being alone recently, so he’d often go to one of the others room for comfort which meant he disturbed them while they slept making him feel extremely guilty. Maybe having the dolls would help him get through the night without needing to go and annoy the others? He hopes so.

Looking at them all, he smiles. He knows he’s definitely going to sleep better now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is 100% canon to the main story and the doll/puppets will definitely be seen again in the main story somewhere.


	7. Who Are You, Really? (What-If Angst) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if scenario.
> 
> What if Dream found out about the timeouts Ink has been giving Cross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was requested by Ramona Melson who wanted to see Dreams reaction to finding out about the timeouts. I know you also added in about him finding out about his aura but I didn’t want to overwhelm Dream all at once. I also wasn’t sure where to add that in if I’m being honest haha ^^. Thanks for your request though.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this what if scenario.

Skipping through the base’s hallways, Dream hums a tune to himself as he makes his way through the building with a big smile on his face. He had originally planned to be away from the base for much longer, but many of the AUs he visited today were feeling pretty positive already so he felt he wasn’t really needed. It’s great that they seem to be doing so well on their own without his added influence, most likely due to a decrease in the gangs destruction around the multiverse. He couldn’t be happier!

So now he had plenty of spare time that he could spend however he liked, but Dream really just wants to play with Cross for a while. The child always seems so bright and happy all the time. It really makes his day whenever he’s able to look after the child, since he was busy most of the time. It’s strange to think he once was a feared Dark Sans and used to help cause so much destruction in Nightmares gang. 

Inks plan seems to be really working so far. A part of him still questions if this plan is the right thing to do; stripping the gang of their memories and making them younger so they could help them become better skeletons is a pretty extreme thing to have to do after all. But everything is fine with Cross at the moment and he knows this will eventually help save the multiverse from destruction. This is the right thing to do. He’s sure of-

Dream doubles over and winces in pain as he’s suddenly hit by a great amount of negativity coming from a nearby room. He can feel someone’s terror emanating strongly from somewhere nearby. It’s weakening him, so much so he feels nauseous and doesn’t think he’ll be able to teleport over there. 

He chooses to walk instead, using the wall to keep himself upright and balanced as he makes his way over. He hopes he’ll be able to help whoever it is, they’re clearly in great distress.

He’s shocked when he realizes it’s coming from Cross’s room and attempts to speed up. What is going on in there?

Arriving at the child’s bedroom door, Dream pokes his skull around the doorframe and takes a peek inside, his eye lights going out at what he sees.

Inks eye lights are red in color as he towers over a trembling Cross who is backed up against the wall. Ink staring at him with a predatory look on his face. Dream doesn’t think he’s ever seen Ink look like this before and he’s honestly shaken by it. He honestly looks terrifying to him. What is Ink doing scaring Cross like that? What could possibly have made Ink get this annoyed at the other?

Cross stares up at Ink with pleading eye lights, trying to get the other to see reason and change his mind about what he’s going to do. He knows that his efforts will be futile though. He’s going to be thrown in timeout for disobeying Ink... again. He didn’t want to tell the others Inks fake story about how the gang supposedly treated him and make it seem like they had been terrible to him. Ink had already made him betray the gang far more than he thought they’d forgive him for, but this had been too far for him. He doesn’t want to lie about them anymore.

Cross tries to beg Ink to leave him alone. “P-Please I-Ink, d-don’t put me back in t-timeout! I c-can d-do something else t-that you w-want me to. I’ll li-listen to anything else you say, but d-don’t make me s-say that about t-them!” 

He lowers his head and whispers a final desperate please, hoping it will get Ink to back off.

Ink blinks at him and his eye lights turn back to their normal appearance with a blue circle in the right eye socket and a star in the left. He places a hand on Cross’s shoulder, which makes him flinch though he doesn’t move away. Seeing Ink’s eye lights have returned to their normal state, Cross relaxes a small bit. Maybe Ink managed to see reason? He hopes he’ll just let him be now.

Ink sighs, rubbing the others shoulder to try to calm him, but it just seems to make him even more nervous and tense. “Look Cross, I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m trying to get you to see reason. Nightmare is still trying to control you somehow and I’m trying to get you free from his hold. Come on Cross, just admit he and the others hurt you and I won’t have to put you in another timeout. I’m sure you can break free from his hold if you really try.”

Cross closes his eye sockets in frustration and shakes his head. Why couldn’t the other see Nightmare isn’t doing anything to him? He hates this idiot for blaming all the problems of the multiverse on his family.

Suddenly feeling brave and defiant, he stands at his tallest, staring up at Ink in fury. “They would _never_ hurt me. I refuse to lie about them to you, even if you threaten me or put me in a timeout. I’m loyal to Nightmare because he’s actually nice and kind to me, unlike you. I wish you’d just let me go home to the hideout where I can be truly happy, but no, I have to fake happiness for you because you think keeping me here and controlling me is for the good for the multiverse! I’m sick of your stupid face trying to tell me who and what I should be believing in! Just leave me alone!!!”

He tries to push past Ink get away from him but the others hand is now tightly squeezing his shoulder, holding him in place as he struggles. 

Ink just huffs in annoyance. “Stars, you’re stubborn aren’t you? You just don’t want to listen to reason. We can fix that though. This is why you have to have timeouts. Come on then,”

Ink grabs Cross’s wrist harshly and begins the process of opening the portal to his timeout space. The child clearly just needs some time to think. He’s being completely irrational at the moment. Hopefully he’d change his mind soon, so he wouldn’t have to keep doing this.

Cross claws at Ink’s hand in anger, fighting, kicking and screaming at him as he opens the portal. He refuses to go in without a fight today and he’s too angry for a change to think of the consequences of his actions. “Let go of me! Let go! LET!!! GO!!!”

Ink just rolls his eye lights at Cross’s anger. Now he’s just being ridiculous, fighting him like some kind of feral animal. He really needs to get him to calm down before he ends up hurting himself. “Cross, stop it. I told you before this is for your own-“

“Ink...?” Ink is confused at first as to why Cross is calling for him in such a shocked quiet tone, before realizing it wasn’t him who said that. He turns his head towards the sound of the new voice and is surprised to see Dream standing in the doorway, looking at him with tiny eye lights as he takes a glance toward the hand that he’s tightly gripping Cross’s wrist with.

Well.... shit.

“W-What are you doing to Cross?” Dream asks Ink fearfully, honestly scared to hear the answer. He can’t believe Ink would do something to hurt a child, even if he is soulless. He’d heard everything the two had said to each other and was shocked at Cross’s anger at Ink when he had yelled at him. 

Had Ink been lying to him about what was best for Cross? Cross had said that his brother had been kind to him and that he wanted to go home to the gang’s hideout. He thought his brother would have hurt him and that was why he agreed to try to save him from Cross, but he was obviously wrong. The only one who is apparently hurting him... is Ink. Dream doesn’t know who the skeleton in front of him is anymore. Can he trust anything the other says to him?

Ink rubs the back of his skull nervously, his other hand still holding onto Cross’s wrist. Cross had stopped fighting him at the sound of the others voice and is now just staring at Dream.

Ink smiles happily at the other Star Sans, hoping he’d fall for his act. “Heya Dream. I’m just taking Cross to a place where he can calm down for a moment. He’s just having a bit of a tantrum right now. I told him he couldn’t eat too much chocolate at once and he got pretty angry at me, haha.”

Dream shakes his head at the others obvious lie. “Ink... I heard enough to know that’s not the reason Cross was fighting you. Why are you lying to me? I thought we wanted to do what was best for Cross and it’s clear he doesn’t want to stay here.”

Ink frowns. Of course Dream had heard most of what was said. Figures... 

“So you overheard our argument then? Dream, I know Cross doesn’t understand what’s best for himself. I think Nightmare is still controlling him, making him want to go back to their hideout to use him again. He can get plenty of negativity out of the child, of course he wouldn’t want to lose him! Think about it Dream, you know your brother is corrupted! Do you seriously want to give Cross back knowing how hurt he can be? He’s safest here with us, so we can look after him properly and make sure he doesn’t turn out like them again. We can’t have him being taught that destroying the multiverse is a good thing by the gang. We need to properly teach him right from wrong.”

Dream listens closely to Ink’s words before looking towards Cross who had been watching the two converse in silence. He wonders what the child is thinking. Dream isn’t sure what he should do exactly. He wants Cross to be happy sure, but he couldn’t be entirely confident yet about Nightmare treating Cross well if he gave the child back to him and he’d obviously grow up thinking that destruction is something he’s meant to do and that wasn’t something he wanted. But Cross isn’t happy here and is clearly scared of Ink. He needs to get Cross away from Ink and have a proper chat with him, so he can determine what will be best for Cross.

“He’s scared Ink and clearly isn’t happy here with us. Can you let go of his wrist? Cross is calmer now and he can speak for himself, I want to hear his opinion while feeling his emotions so I can determine if he’s really being controlled or not. There’s no need to put him in a timeout or whatever you call it. You’re being way too harsh on him.”

Ink looks like he’s about to argue with him, but with one stern look from Dream, he lets Cross go with a sigh.

Cross immediately backs away from Ink, looking towards Dream as he does so. Maybe he’d be safer with the other? But Dream had also controlled him that one time so he can’t exactly be sure of him yet. He looks between the two of them for a moment, before making his decision and running behind Dream. Screw it, at least Dream seemed to be willing to listen to him and nearly everyone was better than Ink. If he tried to control him again he could just back away.

Dream glances worriedly down at Cross as he hides behind him. He’d rub the child’s skull to give him some comfort, but he’s not sure if Cross would be very comfortable with that. “It’s ok, I won’t let him hurt you anymore. Did you mean everything you said about Nightmare before, did the gang treat you well?”

Cross nods eagerly, happy to have someone here who is finally willing to listen. “Y-Yeah, they were all really caring and I felt safe and protected in their care. They played lots of fun games with me, gave me cuddles and everything I ever wanted! I... I really miss them...”

Dream smiles at the emotions he initially feels from Cross as he describes the gang; genuine happiness and affection for them. His brother isn’t controlling him, he actually took good care of him. Maybe there is hope for all of the Dark Sanses after all?

But... they had taken Cross away from them. Away from where he was happy. Did Ink really think that the others had hurt Cross? Even he should be able to tell that Cross is being genuine and really wants to go back to them. And Ink had apparently been controlling him, trying to get him to lie to them about how he’d been treated by the gang. How had he only noticed this now? Why did Ink even want Cross to lie to him and Blueberry about that and... most importantly...

What else does Ink lie to them about?

Dream tries not to think too much about all that now, instead focusing his attention on Cross. He smiles at him gently. “Hey, it’s ok. Maybe we can help you go home to them, if that’s what you really want?”

Cross looks hesitantly hopeful, likes he’s not quite sure if he should believe him. “Do you really mean that? I can go home to the hideout!? You’re not going to keep me here!?”

Dream glares at Ink as he answers Cross. “If you would prefer to be somewhere else, then you shouldn’t be forced to stay here.”

Cross grabs onto one of Dreams gloved hands gently, beginning to trust him a bit more. He hopes that Dream will help him now. “I want to go back to Nightmare...”

Dream smiles sadly at the other, gently stroking the hand Cross is using to hold onto him with one of his fingers. “I know, little one. I’ll see what I can do ok? Can I pick you up?”

Cross hesitates for a moment before answering, reaching up to Dream with grabby hands. Dream legitimately seems to want to help him, so he’s willing to give him a chance. “Ok.”

Dream picks him up gently. “Do you want to tell me about the games you played with the gang in the living room?” He wants to know how the gang act around him without forcing too much information from him, since he knows Cross wouldn’t be comfortable with that.

Cross looks warily over to Ink before turning to Dream again. What if Ink tried to use that information against him? He’s unsure what he should answer.

Dream notices this and tries to reassure the other, frowning at the artist. “Ink isn’t going to be coming with us. I’ll make sure he doesn’t go near you if you don’t want him to.”

Cross avoids looking at Ink as he nods, scared the other will react badly.

Dream begins walking out of the room, turning back to a shocked looking Ink before exiting. “We’ll talk about this later when Blueberry returns to the base. I think he deserves to know what’s been going on behind his back as well. Why you apparently thought it was a good idea to try to scare a child into obedience. I just don’t understand what you were thinking, Ink. Please, don’t follow us.”

He leaves the room then with Cross, wondering what had happened to his close friend for him to do start doing things behind his back. Had Ink always been doing things behind his back? He continues walking down the hallway, chatting happily to Cross while thinking about how much he really knew about the artist. 

Whatever happens next, he just hopes he’ll be able to get Cross home to somewhere he can be happy. At least Cross had finally given him some hope that Nightmare is still redeemable. He’d arrange to meet with his brother soon, so they can discuss getting Cross back to them. He hopes he can recognize Nightmare then as the brother he had before the apple incident. Maybe he’ll finally get through to his brother then!

Ink paces back and forth in his own room, trying to figure out what just happened. Dream had seemed... angry at him? Because of the way he had been treating Cross? That seemed a bit ridiculous. He’s doing it for the good of the multiverse after all. He thought Dream wanted the same and would agree with it too if it eventually helped to make Cross into a better skeleton. But apparently not.

This certainly wasn’t going to help his plan succeed. Would Dream try to stop him from completing the rest of the plan? He stops in his tracks at the thought. 

He couldn’t allow that, not after coming this far with it. Maybe he could persuade him as nicely as he can to change his mind about handling Cross over to Nightmare.

And if he didn’t change his mind?

Well...

He’d just have to persuade him another way...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross’s bravest and best insult that he’s willing to throw at Ink without fearing his wrath “stupid face” :P
> 
> As I said in the comments section where this chapter was requested, I’m not exactly sure where this chapter would go after if this actually happened. 
> 
> Just let me reassure you all that... it wouldn’t end well :)
> 
> Ink probably goes insane thinking that Dream has betrayed him for the benefit of a Dark Sans and just can’t understand why. It’s why I didn’t write Dream returning him to Nightmare like I was also requested to do cos in this timeline that wouldn’t happen... whoops =).
> 
> I’d love to hear all of your thoughts about what could’ve happened next though ^^.
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> I’m ahead of schedule now so I have time to work on the next chapter of the main story. Hopefully it’ll be out soon so please look forward to it.


	8. Don’t teach Cross swear words... (Canon Humour) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross overhears Dust and Killer talking and ends up hearing things he shouldn’t have...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t say swear words in front of the Oreo. You’ll end up regretting it.
> 
> Rated teen for language use.

“... So then I teleported behind him and stabbed a knife into his back while he was still doing some stupid monologue about ‘his multiverse’ or something to Nightmare, while Horror came from the other side and nearly took his arm clean off with his axe. Let me tell you Ink was not happy that we didn’t let him finish his speech, like the moron couldn’t even care less that there was still a knife in his back until Dream noticed a bit later and got it out for him. I mean you think that would be his main concern, but nope! Ink seriously needs to get his priorities in check.” 

Killer recalls the story of the gang’s latest encounter with the Star Sanses to Dust, who stayed behind during that time to work on the antidote for Cross. 

The others are all doing their own things at the moment, Horror is in the kitchen preparing food for dinner later, Nightmare is in the library going through some papers he needs to sort out while Cross is watching some cartoon in the living room. He seemed happy enough to just sit there by himself and watch his show, so Killer and Dust had gone to the dining room to chat for a bit so they wouldn’t be disturbing him.

Dust just shakes his head at the story, barely able to believe what he’s hearing. “Stars, I know he’s soulless, but come on! He seriously didn’t care about the knife at all? I get that we fight a lot and we’re always getting injuries all the time, but surely he’d notice a knife in his back and it would hurt like hell! What a fucking moron!”

Killer nods in agreement. “I know right! When Dream noticed it as well it took him like ten minutes to get Inks attention to try to convince him to remove it. And even then the fucking idiot was too enraged with us to take it out. Dream eventually managed to remove it when Ink slowed down enough because of the amount of marrow he was losing. Dream convinced Ink that he was too weak to continue fighting before basically dragging his ass back through a portal to their base. We then managed to finish destroying the AU without anymore trouble.” Killer finishes with a smirk. It had been pretty funny to watch the two argue between themselves while Blueberry had watched on in confusion, still all fighting them at the same time of course.

A small cheer is heard from behind them as the story is finished and turning around, they look down in horror to see Cross smiling brightly up at them, sitting on a cushion he brought from somewhere nearby. Neither of them saw him enter the room, so caught up in the story that they didn’t think to look out for him. They both hope Cross hadn’t heard some of the more gruesome parts they talked about at the beginning... Hopefully Cross also didn’t pick up on any of the swear words they used either. Nightmare would kill them if Cross suddenly started using bad language in front of him and he found out it was them that accidentally taught him those.

Cross’s program had finished a while ago so he had gone into the dining room when he had heard voices coming from inside the room. When he’d arrived, Killer was about halfway through recalling his story, so he had grabbed a cushion and sat nearby so he could listen to the rest of it. He didn’t want to disturb the other while he was telling it so he decided to wait until the end to let them know of his presence. They look pretty shocked to see him there though. Was he... not meant to have heard all of that...? Whoops.

He decides to break the silence, acting innocent and cute in the hopes that he won’t get into trouble and he’ll be told more stories. “That’s a really cool story Killer! Do you have any more you can tell us!?” He asks excitedly, bouncing up and down a bit.

Killer sweats nervously. How much had Cross heard? “Um... I may have a few more kiddo, but can I ask... how long have you been sitting there listening?” If Cross really does want more stories he’ll have to try to think of more child friendly ones to tell, which will be hard enough to do considering what their jobs entail...

“About two minutes I think.” Cross answers innocently. He may have been sitting there just a bit longer, but he’s not sure if Killer and Dust want to hear that. “I didn’t want to interrupt you though, so I stayed silent.”

Killer sighs in relief. Cross probably hadn’t heard the violent parts earlier then. “You could’ve interrupted to say hello Cross, I wouldn’t have minded. Also we could’ve been talking about something that isn’t really appropriate for you to be listening to.” 

Cross looks off to the side to avoid the others eye contact. He knew he probably wasn’t supposed to be listening, but it had just been so exciting! They hardly ever told him about their adventures and he wanted to hear them... Even if they aren’t exactly ‘age appropriate’, but he’s not a baby bones, he can handle it!

“I know, but it was just so good and I didn’t want to annoy you. I’m sorry if I shouldn’t have been listening.” He says sounding regretful and sad.

Killer bends over to pick Cross up off the ground and places him onto his lap. Cross looks up at him in curiosity and slight worry as he does this. 

Killer pats his skull affectionately. “It’s alright, Cross. We were meant to be keeping an eye out for you anyway, so it’s our fault you heard as much as you did. It’s ok, you’re not in trouble or anything. Do you want a hug?”

Cross brightens up and nuzzles Killer gently. “Yes please! Dust you have to join us too!” Cross demands, looking towards the other skeleton with a huff.

Dust chuckles. “Ok.” He scoots closer to the other two until he’s also hugging Cross gently. He’s relieved that the other doesn’t seem at all affected by the story. He just hopes Cross overhearing it doesn’t come back to bite them in the ass later...

Cross happily walks over to the library an hour later to find Nightmare. Killer and Dust had told him lots of amazing stories in the past hour, so he’s currently in a great mood! He hasn’t seen Nightmare in a while though, so he hopes the other won’t be too busy and he’ll get to spend some time with him now!

He spots him sitting on one of the armchairs in the room, reading a book from one of the shelves. Cross makes his way over there, poking Nightmares arm to get his attention. “Nightmare... are you busy?”

Nightmare shakes his head and puts the book down on a small table beside him. He needs a break from reading anyway. “No, I was just finishing up. How’s my favorite little knight doing today?”

Cross giggles at Nightmares words, crawling up onto his lap and nuzzling him happily. “I’m great! Killer and Dust were telling me some awesome stories about some of the AUs you’ve been to and a few of the fights you’ve had in the past!”

Nightmare smiles, cuddling Cross gently. “Glad to hear it. I hope they didn’t mention anything too scary for you though.” He doesn’t want Cross having any bad nightmares tonight because of something that may have been said in one of them.

The skeleton sitting on his lap crosses his arms and huffs. “I can handle it, you know! I’m a brave knight, not some scared little baby bones!”

Nightmare laughs at that statement, which makes Cross pout more. “I know you are, I’m sure you can handle their stories anyway.” He trusts that Killer and Dust would have toned down the amount of violence in each of the tales so they didn’t scare him too much.

Cross nods. He isn’t scared at all! Though there was something that was said that made him curious in one of the stories, but he has a feeling he wasn’t supposed to hear it be said. “Nightmare?” He asks the other, reaching for one of his tentacles hovering nearby.

Nightmare notices this and brings it closer. Cross really likes to play with and cuddle his tentacles for comfort. “Hmm?”

“Um...” Cross starts, not sure where to begin. “I kept hearing this one word being repeated over and over again earlier by some of the others and I was wondering what it means. I’m not sure if I was supposed to hear it though or if I’ll I have to add it to the list of banned words you told me not to say.” 

The gang had often sworn around Cross before by accident the first couple of days after he had been turned into a child. When he had started repeating some of the language he’d been hearing around the hideout, Nightmare had begun banning them all from swearing in front of the child and had told Cross which ones he didn’t want to hear him saying again. 

Cross was happy enough to oblige to this and hadn’t said any of the words since, which he was very proud of.

However Cross had become mischievous and often told on the others to Nightmare whenever they swore. If he couldn’t get away with it, then he didn’t see why the others should. He’d even gotten Error into trouble over swearing in front of him once, which he thought was pretty funny.

One of Nightmares tentacles twitches in annoyance. Was it so hard for them all to stop swearing in front of the child for two minutes?What had someone said in front of him this time, he wonders. “Do you want to whisper it to me and I’ll tell you if it’s bad or not... and don’t worry you’re not in trouble if it is something bad.” He adds, seeing that Cross is beginning to look worried.

“Ok, it’s...” He whispers the word to Nightmare and immediately can tell it’s a bad one from the look on his face.

Nightmares eye widens and his tentacles writhe around behind him in anger. Of course he had managed to pick that word up from somebody’s conversation. Someone is about to get into _big_ trouble now. “Cross... **who taught you that word?** ”

Cross shrinks a bit at Nightmares angry tone, though he knows it’s not directed at him. Nightmare said he wasn’t in trouble after all. “Killer and Dust, but they didn’t know I was in the room at the time.”

Nightmare calms down a bit and pats Cross gently on his skull with one of his tentacles, feeling bad he may have upset Cross in his anger. “Thank you for telling me Cross. They definitely should not have said that word anywhere near you. Can you promise me now that you’ll add that one to the list and you won’t say it again?”

Cross nods trying his best to look like he’s taking this seriously. “I won’t say it again, I promise.”

Nightmare chuckles at his serious face and rubs his skull affectionately. “Ok then. I know you won’t let me down.”

He picks Cross up with his tentacles and gets up with the intention of leaving the room to find two particular skeletons to have a little... _chat_ with them. He places Cross down gently on the floor on one of the cushions they have lying around the place when they read to him. “You stay here and read a book, Cross, while I just talk to the others for a bit, ok?”

“Alright!” Cross happily agrees, getting up to search for his favorite book which he knows is on a shelf nearby. He hopes Nightmare isn’t too mad at Killer and Dust for teaching him that word accidentally...

The two skeletons are walking down the hallway, idly chatting about something when they suddenly hear an angry yell coming from nearby.

“ **KILLER!! DUST!! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT YOUR LANGUAGE USE IN FRONT OF CROSS!** ” Nightmare yells from somewhere further down the hallway.

The two of them look to each other wide eyed, knowing exactly what had happened. They’d been fearing it would all day after all, Cross was never good at keeping these things to himself and as a child he couldn’t keep anything secret. They had a feeling he’d ask Nightmare about a certain word they’d mentioned beginning with f.

“Do you think we should run?” Dust asks turning and already walking in the opposite direction to where Nightmares voice is coming from.

Killer follows him and the two of them begin quickly speed-walking down the hallway. “Definitely... **RUN!!!** ”


	9. Sickness (Canon Hurt/Comfort) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross gets a tummy ache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had quite a few requests for this kind of chapter so I hope all of you enjoy it :3

Cross whimpers in pain as he lies on the couch and clutches the area where his stomach would be. His non-existent tummy had started hurting a little while ago as he watched his favorite action show and he doesn’t understand why.

He really doesn’t want to bother any of the others when they’re most likely busy. Hopefully the pain will go away in a minute and he’ll be able to enjoy his show in peace.

...

But it doesn’t go away.

Ten minutes later, Horror enters the room and is shocked to see Cross curled up on the couch, his face scrunched up as if he’s in immense pain. He rushes over to the other in panic, wondering what’s going on with the young skeleton. “Cross, what’s wrong!?”

Cross looks up at him through teary eye sockets. Even though he didn’t want to bother anyone, he’s relieved the other is here now. The pain is becoming unbearable now. “T-Tummy... it h-hurts!!” He tells the other as he curls in on himself further. Stars, he wants this pain to stop so bad!

Horror tries to think of what could have caused this. He hopes it’s not some delayed side effect of the potion that Ink threw at him, but that had happened a long time ago now. It’s doubtful.

“It’ll be alright, Cross.” He tries to reassure the other calmly. If he got too upset then he’d end up scaring Cross more and he didn’t want the child to start panicking, thinking he has some terrible illness. Horror thinks that he most likely has something they can fix with a little medicine.

“Did you eat anything funny?” Horror questions the other, but he doubts Cross would put anything in his mouth if he didn’t know what it was first. Cross is smarter than that.

“Just lunch earlier... and some chocolate.” He admits, refusing to meet the others eye light. The chocolate had been so tasty...

“Cross... how much chocolate did you eat?” Horror asks, giving the child a stern look. He has a feeling he’s not going to like the answer Cross gives him. 

Cross hesitates before telling the other. He’s going to get into so much trouble over this, isn’t he? “Um... All of the bars in the cabinet?”

Horror sighs as he sits down on the other end of the couch by Cross’s feet. He knew he should have hidden those before something like this happened. At least he knows what’s wrong with Cross now and it’s definitely not something more serious.

“We did warn you what would happen if you ate too much chocolate. Now you’ve got a tummy ache because of it.” Horror tells him in a disappointed sounding tone.

Cross looks at him guiltily. “I’m sorry. But it was so tasty! I couldn’t help myself!” He winces as he’s hit with even more pain and he whines. “Can you make the pain go away? Please!”

Horror thinks for a moment. “I should be able to find you some medicine nearby. It won’t be very nice, but it’s the only way to make you feel better right now. Shall I go get it?” 

He starts to get up, but is stopped when Cross sits up suddenly and grabs his arm. The action obviously hurts Cross as he gasps a little and clutches his other arm closer to his stomach. 

Cross ignores the pain he’s feeling right now to quickly speak to Horror, afraid he’ll just get up and exit the room if he doesn’t ask him this. “W-Wait! I want N-Nightmare! Can you g-get him for me?”

Horror smiles a little. He finds it so cute how much the child adores Nightmare and obviously sees him as his father figure. They had such a close bond that Cross would always call Nightmare first when it came to any incidents. Horror knows that Cross adores all of them really, but it’s just that Cross has a special connection to the other skeleton. Cross is just adorable when it came to hanging out with Nightmare. Sometimes they’d spot him playing with the tentacles as if he was a kitten when Cross thought no one was watching, a sight he knows would brighten even the darkest of souls.

“I’ll go get him now, but I’ll have to leave the room. Are you ok with that?”

Cross lets go of his hand, signaling for him to leave. “O-Ok. But please be quick!”

Horror nods. “I will. Nightmare will be here in a minute ok kiddo? Hang in there.”

He runs out of the room and heads for Nightmares study, hoping to find the goopy skeleton there. He really doesn’t want to have to search the entire castle for him, especially when Cross is sick and needs his company.

He’s relieved to see Nightmare is sitting in there doing some paperwork. The other gives him a curious glance as he sees the expression on Horror’s face.

Horror decides to just tell it straight out to him as he gives him the short version of what’s going on. “Cross is sick. I’m about to get him some medicine, but he wants you.”

Nightmare stiffens hearing this. He hopes Cross doesn’t have anything too bad. “Do you know how he got sick?”

Horror nods as he frowns. He feels like he’s also to partially blame for this since he didn’t think to just hide the chocolate. Now Cross is sick because of that mistake. 

“Yeah, he ate all the chocolate that was in the cabinet earlier. I really should have locked all of it some place where Cross couldn’t get them, but I thought he’d listen to our warnings.”

Nightmare sees the guilt written all over the others face and places a tentacle gently on his shoulder in comfort. “This isn’t your fault, Horror. Cross is the one who chose to ignore our warning, which unfortunately means he’s now paying the price for that mistake. We’ll just have to hide any chocolate we get on our raids next time. Do you know where the medicine is?”

Horror blinks gratefully at Nightmare as he attempts to console him. He always knows how to make them feel better. “Yeah, I think I know where it is. Cross is on the couch in the living room right now. I’ll meet you there as soon as I get the medicine.”

“Alright.” Nightmare agrees. 

The two of them exit the room then, Nightmare turning into a shadow to travel through the hallways quicker to get to the living room, while Horror walks quickly in the opposite direction. 

Cross is exactly where Horror said he’d be and Nightmare is saddened to see how much pain the other seems to be going through. Turning back to normal, he walks over to the child’s side and places a comforting hand on his skull.

Cross leans into the touch as he nuzzles the other hand, glad that Nightmare is here for him now, but he lets out a cry of pain when he moves too much and hurts his stomach more. “N-Nightmare! It h-hurts!”

“I know, Cross. I’m afraid that’s what happens when you eat _all_ of the chocolate in the cabinet, but I think you’ve learned your lesson about that now, yes?” He gives Cross a disappointed look, making the other look away sadly.

Cross’s voice shakes as he does his best not to cry in front of the other. He hates when Nightmare gives him his disappointed look. “I h-have... I sh-shouldn’t h-have eaten a-all of i-it at once. I’m s-sorry I d-didn’t l-listen to you. I will n-next time, p-promise.” 

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now he deeply regrets it. The gang are rarely ever disappointed in him, so Cross always feels terribly guilty when they are. He sniffles as tears threaten to fall from his eye sockets. Why did he have to mess up so badly at times?

Nightmare sighs. He really can’t stay annoyed at Cross for long, especially when he always gets so upset about it. He feels the guilt and sadness coming off the other in waves and he _can’t_ stand it. He doesn’t like feeling negative emotions off his boys, even if they make him stronger, he won’t have them in the hideout. His need to comfort the other has gone into overload.

He rubs Cross’s skull a little. “Alright then. But make sure it doesn’t happen again. Come here, little one.” 

Nightmare uses his tentacles to gently pick Cross off the couch, so he can sit down and place the other on his lap. He does his best not to move Cross around too much and make him more uncomfortable, but the child still whines a little, making Nightmare wince.

Cross stays curled up as he’s moved. He normally always likes being held so gently in Nightmare’s tentacles, but he’s in so much pain right now it’s almost a relief when he’s put down on the other’s lap. 

He looks at the other curiously as  
Nightmare coils the tentacles around him in a circle, creating a comfortable, snug sort of nest for him to lie in. The nest is very cozy, Cross can’t help but snuggle closer into one of the tentacles circling him. He honestly can’t believe how safe and happy he feels lying in the center of all these tentacles. He’d take this over the couch any time. 

Nightmare chuckles at the other’s content expression. “Are you feeling a little more comfortable now then?”

“Yeah! This is really cool!” Cross smiles as he grabs one of the nearest tentacles and hugs it close. Nightmare lightly taps him on his nose ridge with that same tentacle, making Cross giggle a little. He winces when doing that makes his stomach more painful. “It... still really hurts though.”

Nightmare gently massages his back in a soothing manner with his hands. “I know, but Horror’s coming with the medicine soon and that’ll make you better. Just wait a little longer.”

Cross closes his eye sockets as he tries to relax and ignore the pain. If he doesn’t move, then it hopefully won’t bother him as much. “Ok.”

Killer walks into the room a short while later and is surprised to see Cross lying in the center of Nightmares tentacles, his face contorted into a pained expression as Nightmare tries to comfort him to the best of his ability. He walks over to the two of them, worry written all over his face.

“Is Cross ok? What happened?”

Nightmare keeps his eye on Cross as he speaks to Killer, a hint of fondness in his gaze as he affectionately strokes the others back. “ _Someone_ thought it would be a great idea to eat all of our chocolate and now has a tummy ache because of it.”

Killer shakes his head at the information, a small smile on his face at the thought of Cross stuffing his face with all that chocolate. 

“Oh Cross...” It sounds like he’s about to burst out laughing. Killer can’t help it though. Of course Cross would make the mistake of eating so much he’d get a stomach ache from it.

Cross grumbles as he hides his skull behind the tentacle he’s still holding. He’s really embarrassed about the story now, knowing just how stupid it was of him to do. Why did Nightmare have to tell Killer too?

Killer turns back to Nightmare, but smirks as he sees Cross grumbling out of the corner of his eye socket. He feels bad for Cross, but this situation is really hard not to laugh at. “Is there anything I can do to help? Anything I can get?”

Nightmare shakes his head. “Horror should be coming with the medicine any moment now. Unless you want something else, Cross?”

Cross thinks for a moment. “Can I have a blanket?” He mumbles into the tentacle, still not looking at either skeleton in his annoyance.

Killer manages to hear him anyway, his smirk widening. Cross is always so adorable when he gets grumpy. He’d totally take a picture of the other wasn’t sick, but he thinks Cross has probably had enough embarrassment for one day. “Ok, I’ll go grab one.”

He gives Cross an affectionate, gentle rub on his skull, before he turns to search for some blankets in a nearby room. He passes Horror on his way out and greets him hurriedly before rushing off.

“Got the medicine here, Nightmare.” Horror announces as he enters the room. Hopefully it’ll help Cross feel better.

Cross pokes his skull out of the nest of tentacles when he hears Horror’s voice. He takes a look at the bottle in Horror’s hand curiously. Would that really make him feel better? He sits up as Nightmare takes both the medicine and spoon that had been brought from Horror.

Nightmare thanks the other and pours some of the medicine onto the spoon. Cross pulls a face at it’s appearance and leans away from it. “That looks yucky.” 

The liquid is a dark green color that looks inedible and Cross doesn’t want it _anywhere_ near his mouth.

Nightmare has to agree with Cross’s statement. It certainly doesn’t look very appealing. “I know, but it’ll stop your stomach hurting. Can you open your mouth wide for me?”

Cross turns his skull away as Nightmare tries to bring the spoon to his mouth. “Don’t wanna. It’s gonna taste horrible.”

Horror watches on worriedly. What if they couldn’t get him to take the medicine?

Nightmare frowns as he refuses the medicine. “Come on, Cross. Just one spoon? I promise this will help.”

Cross looks up at Nightmare’s face to see he’s giving him a pleading look. Cross sighs and turns back to the spoon, giving it an unimpressed look. He’s only going to do this since Nightmare asked him...

He reluctantly opens his mouth for the other to give him the medicine. 

Nightmare works quickly, sticking the spoon into the others mouth before Cross can change his mind. This is for his own good after all.

Cross’s expression quickly turns into one of disgust as he tastes the medicine. He gags after he swallows it and the spoon is taken out of his mouth, the taste still lingering afterwards. That was awful!

Nightmare pats his back as he reacts badly to the medicine. “There, there. It’s all done now. Hopefully it’ll start working soon.”

Cross groans in frustration as the taste doesn’t go away. He pouts at Nightmare for making him take the medicine, even as the other tries to comfort him.

Nightmare smiles a little at his pouty face as he hands the medicine and spoon back to Horror again. “Come on, Cross. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

The monochrome skeleton huffs while crossing his arms. “Yes, it was! It was terrible!”

Nightmare chuckles, using one of his tentacles to tickle Cross affectionately under his chin. “Well, at least you don’t have to take any more now.”

Cross giggles as he’s tickled, unable to stay annoyed at Nightmare when he knows he’s only trying to help him. He cuddles the other lovingly, beaming happily as he does so. His stomach is already feeling a little better. 

Nightmare hugs him back gently, glad to see Cross is already acting more like himself again. The medicine should hopefully work very quickly, it has a bit of healing magic mixed into it, so it should be effective.

Horror smiles at the adorable scene in front of him. So cute!

Killer walks in with the blanket then, happy to see Cross is looking better already. “Do you still want the blanket, Cross?”

Cross nods his skull excitedly and makes grabby hands at the blanket. He needs it to complete this comfy nest! “Yes please!”

Killer gently places it over Cross’s body so that only his skull is still visible afterwards. Cross snuggles into the blanket as he rests his skull on top of the tentacles that make up the outside of the tentacle nest. He closes his eye sockets and hums happily, content to lay there for a while. He can only think of one thing right now that would make this better.

“Nightmare? Can we all watch a movie together? Please!?” He begs the other, giving him his famous puppy eye lights look that he knows none of the gang can say no to.

Nightmare smirks. He really should say no, Cross had been naughty earlier after all and he should probably be telling him off a little more for his bad behavior. But Nightmare thinks the stomach ache is enough of a lesson for Cross today. They could all use a break to watch a film after that small scare. ~~Not to mention that he just can’t say no to him when he makes that face.~~

“Alright, shall I search for a film for you?”

Cross shakes his head, cuddling into him more and pushing him to lean further back on the couch. He doesn’t want Nightmare to get up. “I’m too cozy right now, you have to stay here.” 

Nightmare chuckles. It seems he’s not going to be allowed to move for quite a while. He probably should’ve guessed that would happen.

He turns to the other two skeletons in the room. “Can both of you go pick something out for all of us?”

They nod and go to browse the collection of films nearby. Cross knows they’ll pick out something they’ll all enjoy, so he sits back and relaxes his skull against Nightmares chest.

Pretty soon, they’re all sitting down on the couch and watching the film that they chose, with Cross leaning over the tentacles excitedly to get a better view of the television screen. 

After watching about half an hour of the film, Cross realizes he can no longer feel any pain coming from his stomach and happily informs the rest of the gang, who are all delighted at the news.

He still can barely believe that the chocolate he ate was the reason he was in all that pain. 

Maybe he won’t eat any more for a little while....

...

Definitely not until tomorrow at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare: I’m not angry...
> 
> Cross: :)
> 
> Nightmare: I’m just disappointed.
> 
> Cross: NOOOOOO :(


	10. What’s Important (Hurt/Comfort) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross accidentally causes Dust to lose some important work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the one-shot I said I was going to do next I know. That one is taking much longer than I anticipated and I keep getting distracted, haha. ~~Author can't stop binge reading new amazing fics she finds around the place.~~
> 
> I should really do other chapters that don't just involve Nightmare and Cross and include the other characters more, but damn I just love writing these two you know.
> 
> Warnings for description of a minor injury that Cross gets.

Dust had been spending more and more time in his room recently trying to make the antidote for Cross. 

He’d studied many different books about potions and antidotes recently and had managed to gather a couple of rare ingredients to see if he could make a test potion of some sort for starters. It had taken a long time and he’d had to go to many different AUs to find them all. Even though he’s still far away from discovering a combination that will return Cross to normal, he hopes that he’ll at least be able to make some progress today.

He sets up a couple of test tubes and a flask on his desk. Consulting one of his books on magic potions, he adds the ingredients and different magic chemicals he’s got to each test tube before mixing them all together in the flask. He watches as the liquid inside the flask turns a variety of different colors throughout the process. He’s pretty satisfied with the way it’s going so far.

As Dust gets to the halfway stage of mixing everything together, Cross enters his room. The small skeleton is _really_ bored right now, everyone seems so busy and he doesn’t know what to do. He hasn’t seen Dust in a while, so maybe he’ll play with him or at least give him something interesting to do. He’s intrigued by the colorful liquids in the flask on the others desk and walks over to Dust.

Dust doesn’t see Cross as he approaches, too busy inspecting one of the flasks in his hand.

“What are you doing, Dust?” Cross asks as he leans close to the taller skeleton, trying to see the flask’s contents more clearly.

Cross’s sudden appearance by his side startles Dust. He jumps a little, spilling the contents of the flask before dropping it in shock. The glass shatters on the floor and both skeletons jump back to avoid it.

Cross stares down at the sizzling liquid for a moment in shock before turning to Dust. Both of the others eye lights are out as he looks to the mess on the floor.

He takes a step towards Dust, but stops when the other faces him. The older skeleton looks really mad right now. “Dust, I-“

Dust interrupts him, his eye socket beginning to spark with magic as he becomes furious with Cross. “Do you know how hard it was to get the ingredients I used in that!? How many days, weeks even, it will take for me to collect the damn things again!?”

Cross flinches at the others tone, shrinking into his favorite hoodie unconsciously as he tries to make himself smaller. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen, he... he had just wanted to talk to someone or find something to do. But now... Why does he always make everything worse? 

Maybe he should apologize, then Dust won’t be as angry. “I’m sor-“

“I don’t want to hear it right now, Cross. Leave me alone to clean up this mess and get out.” Dust barely notices how scared or anxious Cross looks right now, too caught up in his anger to realize. All that hard work... destroyed just like that, it’s so infuriating!

The young skeleton sniffles as he stutters, taking a frightened step back from the other. “B-but I-“

“ **I said get out, Cross!** ” Dust’s magic flares violently, his left eye light blazing purple in his anger. He looks like he might attack at any moment, which really scares the smaller skeleton.

Cross let’s out a fearful whine, tears welling up in his eye sockets as he backs out of the room. He feels one of his barefoot feet stepping onto something sharp as it cuts into one of the bones at the back of his foot. He lets out a pained cry, looking to Dust for comfort, but he sees no sympathy from the other. He’s too busy cleaning his mess up to notice.

Cross limps out of the room as he attempts to run to find a place to hide away from the fuming skeleton, sobbing the entire way. He doesn’t want to think the other would ever hurt him, but he had seemed really mad. Dust had really scared him, his magic felt so awful and malicious, like he had wanted to hurt him. It seems safer to just hide for now.

One of the spare bedrooms doors is open, so Cross goes into the room and closes the door behind him. Deciding that under the bed would be the best place to hide away for now, he crawls under hugging his knees to his chest in comfort as he sits as far away from the door as he can get. He pants heavily with exertion, trembling as he recovers from the encounter. The back of his foot still really hurts and he can guess something is stuck in it. He’s afraid to look at it though, in case it’s really bad.

Tears continually fall down his face as he cries, feeling terrible for upsetting Dust like he did. He knows he should have just left him alone to work, but he’d been curious about what he had been doing. His curiosity only seems to ever lead him to trouble though. Why can’t he just do one thing right instead of being a nuisance to the gang?

Is Nightmare going to be angry at him? He probably will be, he had destroyed Dusts work and it had seemed really important. All the gang will most likely hate him now. He whimpers at the thought. Are they going to throw him out for his huge mistake? He’s terrified of emerging from this hiding spot now, in case they are planning to do just that. He’d rather stay here forever than let that happen. 

Perhaps Dust will come after him to yell at him more after he’s finished cleaning up what Cross had broken? He hugs himself tighter at that thought, wondering how long he has until he finds him...

Dust had begun to calm a little as he worked on cleaning up. His anger finally leaving him, Dust realizes with horror that he’s after yelling at Cross and how malicious his anger must have felt like to the child at that moment. He shouldn’t have gotten so angry, but seeing a few weeks work go up in smoke had just been so infuriating to him. He just needed to let some anger out and unfortunately for him, Cross had been the outlet for it. Shit, what has he done!?

Forgetting about the potion he was trying to clean up, Dust runs out of the room, frantically calling for Cross. He knows he’s after really messing up, big time. Even as an adult, Cross always had been sensitive and somewhat fragile when it came to fights or others getting angry at him. Now that he’s younger, Dust can only imagine the large amount of damage he’s after causing to the poor child. He probably hid in fear of his rage, so how in the multiverse is he supposed to find him now?

Passing by and entering multiple rooms, he tries apologizing as he calls out to the young skeleton, hoping that will make him come out.

Cross hears Dust calling him from under the bed and he freezes up. He considers for a moment coming out as he hears the others frantic calls and apologies, but decides against it. Dust is probably still angry at him, after all and he’s not quite ready to face him yet.

The door opens and he holds his breath, hoping the other will just pass him by. He hears Dust sigh before he turns around and leaves, shutting the door again as he goes.

He relaxes slightly as Dusts voice fades, feeling relieved that he’s safe for a while longer. Dust must be searching for him elsewhere now. 

Dust panics a little as he searches room after room and still isn’t able to find Cross. He bumps into something, or rather someone, as he runs wildly around the hallways. 

Nightmare stands in front of him, giving him a rather confused look. “Are you ok, Dust? You look troubled.”

Dust swallows nervously. Nightmare is going to be so pissed at him for this, but he honestly can’t blame him... “I uh... may have yelled at Cross a few minutes ago and he may or may not be hiding away somewhere in fear because of it.”

Nightmare sighs, giving the other a disappointed look. He had a feeling something bad had happened when he had felt the negativity spike in the hideout. But what could have upset Dust so much that it made him shout at the child? That doesn’t seem very much like the Dust he knows.

“Any particular reason you decided to yell at him?”

Dust looks away from the other, feeling terribly guilty. “He scared me while I was making the antidote, so I ended up dropping one of the flasks that had many of the rare ingredients and chemicals inside so I lost all that progress. I was just outraged that I lost all that work that I... my magic became pretty violent and I yelled at Cross.”

Nightmare crosses his arms in thought. He doesn’t think Cross would normally try to scare someone who he knows is working, so maybe this had just been an accident. “Did he scare you on purpose? Do you think he meant to make you lose that work?”

Dust shakes his skull in response to the questions. “No, it was an accident. I think he just was curious and wanted to see what I was doing.” He had really overreacted to this whole thing, hadn’t he? Of course Cross didn’t mean to scare him, but he had acted as if the multiverse was ending and it was all Cross’s fault. How could he have been so stupid!?

Nightmare nods, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “You’re lucky I can tell where Cross is because of his negative emotions right now, because otherwise we could have been searching for him around the hideout for hours. Still Dust, you messed up badly and Cross is most likely really affected by the anger he felt coming off you in your magic.”

Dust winces hearing that. He’s such an idiot! Why did he have to lose control of himself like that? What if Cross is terrified of him now because of it?

Nightmare rests a hand on Dusts shoulder, making the other skeleton flinch a little. “I know you didn’t mean to yell though. Let me find Cross and comfort him before you apologize to him yourself. He’s probably scared that you’re still angry at him.”

Dust finally meets Nightmare’s eye with a nod. “Alright.” He really does want to apologize to the young skeleton as soon as he can. He feels awful for hurting him like he did. While Nightmare helps Cross, he should probably clean up the mess in his room while also thinking of a way to apologize to him.

“Dust... do you know if there’s any possibility that Cross could have been injured after you dropped the flask? Any glass that he could’ve stepped on?” Nightmare asks hesitantly, hoping that Cross isn’t too badly hurt.

Dust’s eyes widen and he begins to panic a little, realizing that Cross might not just have been hurt by his yelling. “Shit, I... I didn’t even check! The glass got everywhere as well so I wouldn’t be surprised if... fuck, what have I done!? How could I have been so uncaring to not even make sure Cross wasn’t hurt because of the stupid thing!?”

Nightmare rubs his shoulder gently trying to soothe the other. “Dust, it’s ok, calm down. I’m sure he isn’t too badly hurt anyway and he’ll be fine after a little bit of healing gel. There’s no need to panic about it just yet. But I need to go find Cross now just in case. Finish cleaning up the mess in your room then meet us in the living room. You can apologize to Cross there.”

Dust relaxes a little at the other’s touch, but he’s still really worried. “Ok, I’ll do that. Go and find Cross.” 

Nightmare nods and hurries off to find Cross as Dust walks off to his own room. 

After twisting a few corners and going down different corridors Nightmare pinpoints Cross’s location in one of spare bedrooms. He knocks on the door before he enters and calls out so he doesn’t scare the young skeleton anymore than he already is. “Cross?”

Nightmare knows that Cross is under the bed right now. Hopefully the fact that he’s come will make Cross come out from under there. But the young skeleton seems to be trying to hide even from him.

Cross does his best not to make any noise as Nightmare enters the room and calls for him. He doesn’t sound angry, but Cross can’t be too sure. He’s really scared of the other screaming at him too. He hates being yelled at.

Nightmare can guess Cross isn’t going to come out from there anytime soon, so he gets onto his hands and knees, looking under the bed to see two frightened eye lights staring back at him from the darkness. He can see that the young skeleton is shivering slightly.

“Hey, Cross.” Nightmare calls out to him softly.

Cross sniffles as the other calls out to him. Seems like his hiding place hadn’t been very good after all and now he’s going to get in trouble for it. 

“Ar-Are you m-mad at me?” He decides to ask, not wanting to delay the inevitable punishment the other decides to give him for messing up once again. He just wants to get this over with now that Nightmare has found him. 

He’s surprised by the other’s response. “No, I’m not angry at you, Cross. You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

Cross shakes his head at that, still holding himself tightly in comfort. “B-But... I ruined the th-thing D-Dust was w-working on a-and it’s going to t-take him a r-really long time to fix it. He h-hates m-me now and y-you s-should too. I j-just r-ruin ev-everything for you g-guys.” 

He’s full on sobbing now as tears stream down his face. “I d-don’t w-want you to k-kick me out, b-but maybe it w-would be b-better for ev-everyone if y-you did.” He clenches his eye sockets shut tightly, not wanting to see Nightmare’s response to that. He’ll probably just agree to it and then he’ll be all alone again.

The guardian of negativity is taken aback by his words. He knows Cross has low self esteem, but surely he knows how much they all care about him and how much they want him around? “Cross... we’re not going kick you out, that’s never going to happen. Nobody hates you, what happened with Dust was an accident and he feels bad that he yelled at you. You’re more important than what he was working on. _Nothing_ is more important than you and your wellbeing, Cross.”

Cross wipes his eye sockets with his sleeves as he looks to Nightmare with enlarged, timid eye lights. “R-Really?”

Nightmare smiles softly. “Of course little one. It will take time, but Dust can recover what he’s lost today. But that doesn’t matter too much. What matters is that you’re ok.”

He reaches his hand in under the bed slightly, gesturing for Cross to take it. “So can you come out from there and tell me if you hurt yourself in anyway.”

Cross hesitates for a moment before he begins to slowly crawl out towards Nightmare. He pops his skull out nervously looking to see Nightmare’s reaction. When nothing bad happens, he shuffles over to the other, who is sitting up now and rests his skull on his shoulder. “I’m s-sorry for always m-messing up.”

Nightmare rubs it gently, trying to comfort the small skeleton. “You’re not always messing up, Cross. We all make mistakes at times and yours wasn’t that big of a deal ok? I’m sure the rest of us have done much worse.”

Cross finds it hard to believe that any of the others could mess up worse than him, but he nods in agreement. Nightmare wouldn’t lie to him about that after all. He wonders what they could have all possibly done that could be so bad.

Nightmare notices as he looks to the child in front of him that Cross seems to be hiding his foot behind him and it’s lifted slightly higher than the ground, as if it’s hurting him. “Did you hurt your foot?”

Cross nervously sweats a little as he looks off to the side and tries to hide his foot behind him better. He’s scared Nightmare will say it’s really bad and he’ll have to get his foot cut off! 

He still decides to tell him the truth though. “Yeah, I think I stepped on something sharp near the back of my right foot and it’s still there, it’s really stings.”

Nightmare tries to take a closer look but Cross blocks his view, looking panicked. “Pl-please d-don’t t-touch it! It’s going to hurt more!”

The guardian of negativity tries his best to keep his voice calm so Cross listens to what he says and will let him see his foot. “I need to get whatever is hurting you out of your foot and then it will feel much better. I’ll be very gentle and it will be over before you know it. Then I can heal it.”

He’s thankful that this room has healing gel and bandages stored in one of the closets. He’s probably going to need them. He quickly grabs them with his tentacles, placing them beside himself before turning back to Cross.

The monochrome skeleton takes a couple of deep breaths, deciding to trust Nightmare on this. “Ok...” He sits back so the bottom of his foot is visible to Nightmare. He notices the other skeletons expression becoming concerned. 

“Is it bad?” He asks the other worriedly. Is he going to lose his foot like he feared!?

Nightmare can see a pretty large glass shard cutting the calcaneus bone near the back of Cross’s foot. Thankfully it’s not in too deep, but he still thinks removing it will probably be really painful and may cause the wound to bleed some marrow.

“You’ll be fine.” He reassures Cross. ”I’m going to have to remove it. It is going to hurt, but how about we do this.” He places one of his tentacles on Cross’s lap. “I’ll count to three before I remove it and you can squeeze this to help with the pain.”

Cross grips it tightly for comfort, scared it’s really going to hurt. He looks away as Nightmare grips his small foot gently in his hand. “Just get it over with.”

“Alright, get ready. 1... 2... 3!” He quickly pulls it out with a tentacle. Cross’s face scrunches up in pain and he screams a small bit into the other’s tendril, tightly squeezing it with an iron grip. Nightmare quickly places some healing gel on the now bleeding wound. When he’s sure he’s covered it fully, he grabs a bandage and puts it on.

“Does it feel better now?” He asks as he sits back up after inspecting the bandage.

Cross slowly lowers the tentacle from his face, putting his foot on the ground to test the pain. It still stings a bit, but it’s doesn’t hurt when he touches it off the ground anymore. “Yeah, it feels a little better now, thank you... Though, I’m not sure if I’ll be comfortable walking _just_ yet...” He says with the tiniest hint of smiles on his face. He just really wants some attention from the older skeleton, without actually having to ask for it like a baby bones. Maybe Nightmare will carry him around for a bit while it heals?

Nightmare knows exactly what Cross is planning, but he decides to play along with it anyway. If it’ll make Cross happier and help him recover, than he’ll do it. “Do you need me to pick you up and carry you around then?”

Cross nods excitedly. “Yes!!! Can I have a piggy back ride this time!” Nightmare grins as he gives him a knowing look, so Cross decides to tone it down a little so he’s not acting like a baby bones. He looks at the other with a serious expression. “I mean um... that would be nice, if you’re ok with it?”

Nightmare chuckles, standing up and using his tentacles to pick up Cross gently and hoist him onto his back. Cross grips his back in a bear hug, using both his arms and legs to hang on to Nightmare. 

The guardian of negativity shakes his skull slightly at Cross’s obvious excitement to being carried around like this. Of course the young skeleton is taking advantage of all this for some cuddle time and attention. ~~He certainly isn’t going to complain about it though.~~

Cross snuggles into the other, wiping the final few tears from his eye sockets as he relaxes. He always feels better when Nightmare’s around.

Nightmare carries him out the room, intending to find Dust so he can apologize to Cross for yelling at him earlier. “I’m sure Dust wants to apologize to you now, so shall we go and find him?”

Cross looks uncertain, fear filling his eye lights as they shrink in size, though Nightmare is unable to see this. “Are you sure he’s not still mad at me?”

Nightmare feels Cross’s fear increase again so he tries to reassure the other. “He definitely isn’t. He knows it wasn’t your fault.”

Cross takes a deep breath, his grip tightening on Nightmare. “If y-you’re sure. L-Let’s go then”

They find Dust sitting on the couch, looking deep in thought about something with a guilty expression on his face. 

Cross peers over Nightmare’s shoulder warily at the other skeleton. When Dust looks to him, the young skeleton shies away from him a little behind Nightmare. He doesn’t miss the way Dust looks really hurt when he does that, making him feel slightly guilty for being so nervous of the other.

Nightmare places him down on the other end of the couch, giving him a quick encouraging rub on the skull before turning to exit the room. “I’ll give you two some space. Call if you need anything.”

Cross wishes Nightmare could’ve stayed, but he understands why he left. He probably would have just hidden behind him if he stayed and Dust wouldn’t have been able to talk to him properly then. 

“I’m sorry I messed up the thing you were working on.” He apologizes quickly before Dust can say anything. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Dust looks at him guiltily. “You don’t have to apologize to me, Cross. I should be apologizing to you. I never should have gotten as angry as I did, especially at you. I can get the ingredients again and finish that work, but I just overreacted. I’m really sorry, kiddo.”

Cross is kind of confused by the sudden apology. Dust had seemed so mad earlier, but he seems to be really regretting his actions now and he seems sad. He really doesn’t want him to be sad because of his mistake. 

“It’s okay, I forgive you but... you promise you’re not upset still? I’d understand if you are...”

Dust smiles a little in relief as he’s forgiven. “I promise, Cross.” He stretches his arms towards the other skeleton, trying to offer comfort to the other. “You want a hug?”

Cross nods shyly and crawls over to the other and sits on his lap, cuddling him happily. He’s relieved that Dust isn’t angry with him anymore.

Dust suddenly remembers all the glass in the room he had to clean up and immediately begins checking the child for injuries. “Did you hurt yourself on anything in there, Cross? Sorry I didn’t check before, that should’ve been the very first thing I did after that happened.”

The monochrome skeleton holds up his foot for the other to inspect. “A piece of glass got stuck in one of the bones of my foot, but Nightmare took it out and put some healing gel and a plaster on the wound, so it’s feeling slightly better now.”

“Is that why Nightmare carried you in here?” The other skeleton asks curiously.

“Yep. In fact... I may need someone to carry me around for the whole day, just so the wound can fully recover.” Cross tells the other, hoping Dust will pick up on the hint he’s after giving.

Dust raises a bone brow in question. “Do you want me to be the one to do that for you then?” 

Cross’s eye lights sparkle with excitement. “Really!? You mean it!? The whole day!?”

Dust laughs at the others expression. “Sure, why not.”

“Yay!” Cross cheers, immediately positioning himself on the other’s back to go for a ride.

Dust smiles as he stands up with Cross attached to his back. Looks like he’ll be stuck with this one until his bedtime. Dust really can’t complain, because knowing Cross is really happy about this definitely makes him feel less guilty about what happened earlier. “I see you’re very eager. Where do you want to go first then?”

Cross thinks for a moment. “Hmm... I don’t know... Let’s just go on a trip around the hideout!”

“The whole building!?” Dust asks nervously, sweating a little.

“Of course!” Cross agrees happily, oblivious to how the other feels about carrying him around the entire hideout.

Dust begins their long journey as he walks out the living room. “Alright... we better start then.” 

Maybe this hadn’t been such a good after all.

Just what has he gotten himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dust really should have known better about offering free rides to Cross. He's going to be wrecked the next day...


	11. Stowaway (Non-Canon Humour) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare discovers someone snook out of the hideout when he wasn’t supposed to during one of their raids. A small argument ensues in front of the Star Sanses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just something I wrote purely for enjoyment and would never actually happen in the main story. There’s obvious plot holes etc but it’s not meant to be taken too seriously. 
> 
> I had so much fun writing it ^^.

Nightmare looks to his gang members, who are standing in front of him as they await the go ahead to travel to an AU via a portal that they’ve got open in the sitting room. “Alright, boys. We’ve got work to do. Let’s go.”

Stepping through the portal, Nightmare and the gang land in the Snowdin forest of Storyshift number 12, an AU they planned to raid for supplies today.

“Just do the usual.” He tells the others with a malicious smirk. “Scare a few civilians, steal a few things, increase the overall negativity, you guys know the drill.” 

The skeletons gather around him all grin widely, brandishing their weapons threateningly before splitting up to cause some chaos. They’ve all done this song and dance routine so many times at this stage that there’s really no need for Nightmare to give them precise orders out here anymore. They all know _exactly_ what they’re doing.

Nightmare goes in his own direction towards one of the shops, intending to grab some supplies. Entering the store, he terrifies one of the cashiers by suddenly teleporting in front of them and smiling evilly at them. “ **All of you are to go to the furthest corner in the back and stay there until I’m gone. Any of you try to stop me or come out from there, I won’t hesitate to _kill_ , understand?**”

He gets several shaky nods and watches as the monsters quickly run away to the corner in fear of his wrath. Nightmare feels his strength increasing as he feeds off their negativity and his grin widens.

He scans the items available and grabs a few things from behind the till, including a chocolate bar that he knows Cross will enjoy later. He’ll give it to him when they get back to the hideout where the monochrome skeleton is probably playing with Fresh right now. 

The other monsters in the store cower in terror as Nightmare looks through everything and grabs what he needs. 

Nightmare stops his browsing for a moment when he doesn’t feel as much negativity off the other monsters as before. Looking to them now, Nightmare notices they seem to be staring at something intently behind him in confusion. He turns around fully to see... nothing of interest and wonders what could have the monsters acting so strangely. He looks back at them to see they... still seem to be staring at... something that’s behind him? But there’s nothing there! What are they so interested in!?

“ **Is there a problem here?** ” He asks tentacles twitching slightly, feeling annoyed he’s not getting enough negativity from the monsters in front of him as he usually would. Why are they so distracted!?

“N-No, sir! Pl-Please j-just t-take whatever y-you n-need and l-leave u-us a-alone!” One of the older monsters tells him, unable to hide the fear in his voice as Nightmare locks his eye with his own.

Nightmare calms a little as he feels the fear. That negativity is more like it, but still... there’s something stopping them from feeling the usual amount of terror. He hopes this doesn’t become a regular occurrence during the next few raids...

As soon as Nightmare exits the store with his newly acquired goods in hand, he hears someone in front of him calling his name out in anger. He rolls his eye light as Ink comes into view, Dream and Blueberry coming up behind him.

“Nightmare! What have you done to this AU!?” Ink calls out from where he now stands a few feet in front of him, brush at the ready.

Nightmare smiles a little as he gazes at the destruction his boys have caused around the town already. They seem to get faster every time. “ **Just spreading a little negativity and gathering a few supplies, Inky.** ”

He turns to leave waving the three off as he walks away. He’s not really in the mood for a fight with them right now. Cross is waiting for his return back home. “ **Now if you’ll excuse me I have to-** ”

“Wait... Is that Cross behind you?” Ink asks as he lowers his weapon in confusion, his left eye light becoming a question mark as Nightmare turns back around to glare at the artist. As if he’d fall for that, he definitely hadn’t been born yesterday. Ink will probably attack him the moment he goes to look.”

“ **Inky, it’ll take more than that to distract me. Cross isn’t-**

His eye widens as he hears a familiar sounding giggle coming from behind him and something moves to adjust its grip on one of his tentacles. He brings that same tentacle in front of him so he can see what’s on it. He blinks a few times in disbelief as Cross he smiles back at him, looking really proud of himself as he hangs upside down from the tentacle. “Hi Nightmare! Surprise!”

Nightmare honestly has no idea how to respond to this. Well, at least this solves the mystery of why the civilians had been acting weird around him, no wonder with a child just attached to his tentacle the entire time. But.... he still has so many questions that he has no answers to. Like how in the multiverse did he not notice Cross on his tentacle the entire time!? Sure he had barely moved them, but surely he should have noticed the added wait!? Is Cross just that light!? How did any of the others not notice the child either!? Just... HOW!? How had Cross managed this!?

The other members of the gang are currently regrouping beside the guardian of negativity and also take a moment to stare at Cross in shock when they see him waving down at them. 

Killer is the first one to recover and break the silence. “Uh... how long has Cross been here for?” He asks Nightmare who looks lost in thought at the moment.

Cross answers the question for him, smiling at all of the others happily as he explains. “Oh, I’ve been here since we all went to this AU together! I’ve been hanging on really tightly to Nightmare’s tentacle the whole time that he didn’t even notice and I just watched as you worked! Told you I can be stealthy!”

Cross looks to the Star Sanses then, giving them a curious glance. “Who are they? Wait! Are they the bad guys!? Can I watch you beat them up!? Please!?” He gives Nightmare a pleading look, which finally brings the older skeleton back to reality.

“ **No, Cross. We’re going home. Now.** ” Nightmare begins to walk away from the Star Sanses, hearing Cross whine in front of him.

“Aww... why?” The young skeleton asks, sounding disappointed.

“ **Because I said so, that’s why.** ” Nightmare coils the tentacle around Cross’s middle so he has a firmer grip on the child, just in case Ink or the other Star Sanses try something. Seems they’re just watching them argue from a distance right now, looking really confused by what’s going on. Most of his gang walk by his side and watch on as he talks with Cross, also looking pretty uncertain about what they should do.

“You’re no fun...” Cross huffs as he folds his arms and hangs limply from the tentacle. 

Nightmare stops in his tracks as he gives Cross a look. “ **Do you want me to play hide-and-seek with you later? Because I won’t if you keep this attitude up.** ”

Cross’s eyes widen as he nods his head. “Sorry! Please play with me later!”

Nightmare thinks for a moment, trying to come up with a way of disciplining Cross for his behavior. He has to face the consequences of his actions after all and Nightmare wants to get the message across that he should not have left the hideout without permission. “ **Hmm... ok, but... no chocolate or television for the next few days.** ”

Cross gives him a horrified look. “What!? But-!”

Nightmare shakes his head. “ **No buts, Cross. You knew you weren’t supposed to come out here and you disobeyed. You need to stay in the hideout for your own protection. You could have been hurt or worse...** ”

Ink had begun approaching the two with curiosity as they talked, but Nightmare really isn’t in the mood to deal with him right now. Still looking sternly at Cross, Nightmare grabs the artist quickly with a tentacle without even looking at him and flings Ink away without a second thought. He lands head first into a snow puff, but neither Cross or Nightmare sees that too focused on their conversation to hear his yelling.

Cross pouts as Nightmare looks at him like that. “I’m not though! I’m completely fine! I just wanted to see what you do all day. It’s boring in the hideout anyway...”

“ **What about Fresh? Does he know you’re gone?** ”

Cross looks guilty. “Not exactly...”

The guardian of negativity sighs, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion. He had a feeling that Cross would answer that. This conversation is giving him a headache. “ **We’re going home.** ”

Cross squirms in his grip in protest. “But I want to watch you all work! Can’t you just pretend I’m not here?”

“ **No.** ” Nightmare answers, his patience wearing thin now.

“But-“

“ ** _No._** “ There’s an edge to his tone now, a warning that he’s done with this conversation.

“Ok, fine...” Cross swings his legs sadly as he looks down at the floor.

Nightmare sighs as he pinches his nose ridge in frustration. Why did this have to happen? All the Star Sanses and this entire town of Snowdin probably just heard him trying to scold a child like he’s his father. This isn’t going to do well for the terrifying image of the embodiment of fear he was going for. Maybe he’ll avoid this AU again for a while after this...

He’s just about to signal the others to make a portal back to the hideout when Cross interrupts him... again. 

“Nightmare... am I in big trouble over this?” He asks looking back up at him, tears forming in the corner of his eye sockets.

Nightmare frowns a little seeing Cross upset like this. He knows he’ll have to be careful with his wording if he doesn’t want a crying Cross on his hands. “ **A little.** ” He tells him honestly. “ **Fresh is probably really worried about you and is probably close to panicking right now because of your sudden disappearance. You need to think more clearly about your actions next time, Cross.** ”

Cross sniffles as he hangs his head in shame. “Ok, I’m really sorry... Am I seriously banned from the television and chocolate for the next few days though?”

Nightmare sighs. He really sucks at this whole disciplining thing, especially when Cross gets so upset about it. “ **You can have them again tomorrow, _if_ you’re good for the rest of the day and _if_ you apologize to Fresh when we get home.**”

Cross immediately perks up, wiping the tears from his eye sockets as he smiles. “I can do that.”

“Um... Nightmare?” A confused-sounding voice calls from behind the guardian of negativity. 

Nightmare turns around and angrily points his remaining tentacles threateningly at the skeleton who dared to interrupt him while he’s trying to talk to Cross. He gives him a furious look and from the way the other shrinks at his gaze, Nightmare can tell that he must look really pissed off right now. “ **What do you want, Dream? Can’t you see I’m busy?** ”

Dream flinches as Nightmare addresses him. “Um N-Nightmare, wh-what are... I uh... d-don’t understand wh-what’s hap-“

“Who’s that, Nightmare?” Cross asks as he gives the other skeleton a curious look. The guardian of negativity blocks the other skeleton from Cross’s view as he turns away from Dream. 

“Nobody important. We’re leaving now anyway.” Nightmare is glad to see the others have a portal ready now. He really just wants to get out of here at this stage.

“Ok.” Cross replies, obviously not giving Dream a second thought as he gladly let's Nightmare carry him towards the portal.

Ink comes too close to them for comfort once again so Nightmare uses another tentacle to send him flying across the clearing. He groans as he lands in an awkward heap on the ground and Blueberry rushes over to help.

Cross is amazed how Nightmare didn’t even look at the other as he threw him. “Whoa! That was amazing, Nightmare! Can you teach me some cool fighting moves one day!?” 

“ **One day. But let’s talk about that later when we get back to the safety of the hideout**.”

With that said, Nightmare finally walks through the portal to the hideout, letting out a breath of relief as soon as they’re through and it’s closed. He really let that get out of hand, didn’t he? Hopefully, the Star Sanses don’t look too deeply into all of that...

“Uh... what just happened?” Blueberry asks as soon as the Dark Sanses are gone.

Ink brushes the remaining snow off his clothes as he looks in the direction where the portal once was and laughs. “I honestly have no idea. But Nightmare certainly didn’t like me getting close to the two of them. I wonder why...” 

Blueberry rubs his chin in thought. “Was Nightmare just acting like he’s Cross’s father or am I the only one who thought that? Hey, Dream what do you think?”

The guardian of positivity doesn’t respond. He’s currently staring into space with stars for eye lights stuck in some kind of daze. 

Blueberry tries again, resting his hand on the other’s shoulder and shaking him a little to get him out of it. “Dream...?”

Dream finally turns to Blueberry with a huge smile on his face and it looks like he’s vibrating with excitement. “Oh my stars... that... was... ADORABLE! The way my brother was interacting with Cross! He was so protective of the other and they were having like, a father-son moment there! Also, did you both see how much Cross adored Nightmare!? So cute! We are totally bringing this up the next time we fight them! I knew Nightmare was redeemable, Sure he said I was nobody important but he probably didn’t mean that. Oh and Ink? We’re not taking Cross away from them like we planned. He’s happy with Nightmare, so there’s no reason to go through with it!”

Ink raises a finger and opens his mouth as if he’s about to argue, but Dream completely ignores him as he skips along, humming a happy tune to himself. Ink knows that he isn’t going to hear whatever he has to say anyway. Dream is in his own world right now

“Aaaahhh! I just can’t believe THAT just happened! Wait... if Nightmare’s like, the father figure... does that mean I get to be Cross’s uncle!?”

Ink turns to Blueberry as Dream continues talking, lowering his voice so only Blueberry can hear what he’s about to say. “He um... does still realize that Nightmare is his enemy, still hates his non-existent guts and is still going to go around destroying AUs despite all this, right?”

Blueberry glances at Dream’s beaming form, before turning back to Ink and giving him a nervous smile. “Just... um... let’s let Dream have this moment for a bit, Ink, ok? I haven’t seen him look this excited in a while.”

Ink shrugs. “Alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They weren’t able to get Dream out of that AU for another six hours despite everything they tried. Dream was just too excited at the prospect that his brother isn’t just a fully corrupt being and actually cared about his members that he kind of lost track of everything else...
> 
> The other members of the gang as they watch Nightmare and Cross talking from a small distance away:
> 
> Killer: Think we should tell Nightmare that everyone can hear their conversation.
> 
> Dust: I don't think we should. Nightmare's in his protective mode by the looks of it and anyone who goes near the two of them right now is going to-
> 
> *They watch as Ink is sent flying by Nightmare's tentacle.*
> 
> Dust: Be thrown just like in the wonderful demonstration Ink just gave us!
> 
> *They all snigger at Ink's misfortune before turning back to Nightmare and Cross.*
> 
> Horror: Think we should get a portal ready instead?
> 
> Killer: That's probably a better idea...
> 
> Never disturb Nightmare when he's trying to act fatherly. It won't end well...


	12. Cross's mission (Non-canon Fluff and Humour) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross tasks himself with the mission of finding a home for his new friend... while also protecting them from the other members of the gang...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So one thing I've commonly read in many similar works to this one is that Cross hates it when the others kill any insects that get into the hideout. I thought it would be cute to write how a younger version might react to finding one and then refusing to hand it over to the others.
> 
> Anyone have Arachnophobia? I will warn you that Cross does handle a spider in this. You may not enjoy that too much, so I apologize if anything makes you uncomfortable. (I’m not exactly great with spiders either ^^’)
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

“Cool, a spider!” Cross watches the arachnid as it moves about, curious as to how it made it all the way to the kitchen from outside the hideout. That would have been a pretty long journey for anything of its size. That’s probably the reason why Cross hasn’t seen any spiders in the hideout until now. 

He had asked Horror if he could help him prepare a meal for later and when asked by him to wash the vegetables in the sink before they started, he’d been happy to do it. He definitely hadn’t expected there to be a spider crawling inside, it’s a good thing he spotted it before he could turn the water on. 

It seems to be trying to spin a web in the sink, but Cross knows it can’t stay there. He doesn’t think the others would react well if he told them they can’t use the sink because a spider has made it’s home there. None of them like bugs and insects as much as he does...

The spider may not be able to make its home there, but Cross is sure he can help it find one in the garden. He’ll just have to carry it around until he can find the perfect place for it there! 

His new mission decided, Cross places his hand down gently next to the spider as it works and patiently waits to see if it’ll climb on. For a while it just ignores him and he worries he’ll never be able to get it out of the sink without hurting it. 

Eventually, the spider does crawl onto his hand as it to moves to a different corner of the sink to work on its web there. Cross quickly, but carefully lifts it up as he cups it with both of his hands to keep it from falling, should it start moving around. 

Cross really feels like he should apologize to the spider for picking it up like this. “Sorry I have to move you, but we really need the sink. Don’t worry though, I’m going to find you a new, even better place to live outside!”

It moves around on his phalanges, tickling him a little as it explores the new terrain it finds itself walking on and Cross suppresses a giggle. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem bothered that it’s being held. He doesn’t want the spider to be unhappy after all.

Cross prepares to leave the room, taking one step forward as watches the spider to make sure it’s doing ok. “Alright spider, lets-“

“Cross! Are you done with the vegetables yet!? We should probably get started making some food for everyone.” Horror calls out to him as he enters the room. He’d been asking the others what they wanted to eat for lunch so they’ll know exactly what to make and nothing will be wasted. 

“Um...” Cross starts, subconsciously bringing the spider a little closer to him as his gaze falls onto the unwashed vegetables. “I got distracted and I didn’t get to wash any of them... sorry...”

Horror smiles, this certainly isn’t the first time Cross had gotten distracted as he works. It most likely wouldn’t be the last either. “That’s ok, Cross. What caught your attention this time?”

The monochrome skeleton hopes Horror doesn’t react to badly to his new friend. He shuffles his feet as he makes his way over to the taller skeleton, cradling the spider close. 

He eyes Horror nervously as he approaches him. “Promise me you’re not going to freak out?”

Horror raises a curious bone brow at the young skeleton, trying to see what he’s holding. “Cross. What’s-“

“Promise?” He gives him a stern look, one that he’s obviously seen Nightmare do before and is trying to copy. Horror would’ve laughed at the cute face if he wasn’t so interested in seeing what Cross is carrying.

He raises his right hand as if he’s about to say an oath. “Ok, ok, I promise I’m not going to freak out. Can you show me what you found now?” 

The young skeleton relaxes a little at the promise. At least Horror won’t react too badly to his new friend now. “Yep. It’s a spider, it was trying to make a web in the sink so I thought I should move it. Look.” He holds out his hands so the older skeleton to see can see the spider more clearly.

Immediately, Horror jumps back in shock. “WHAT THE F-“ He cuts himself off as he sees Cross’s disappointed look. The child clears his throat and shakes his head at him. 

Horror gives him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect it to be _that_ big!” It’s the size of one of the child’s hands and Horror hasn’t seen any spiders that big in a while. He’d been trying to avoid Muffet and her spiders at all cost back in his AU. This one appears to just be a regular spider that one would find on the surface, but seeing it on Cross’s hand is still sending off serious alarm bells in his skull.

“Can you give it to me, Cross?” He doesn’t want to upset the small skeleton, so he’ll take it somewhere else to... _dispose_ of it... instead of just doing it here right now. He doesn’t know what kind of spider it is, but the last thing he wants is for the thing to bite him. What if it’s a venomous spider? Does he have anything for that if it does bite!? Crap, he needs to get it away from him!

“You’re going to hurt it, aren’t you?” Cross takes a step back and shelters the spider from the others view. He knows Horror probably wants to kill the spider and he’s not going to let that happen. He really likes it and he promised he’d find it a home.

“... No, I won’t...” It’s an obvious lie and it took Horror way too long to respond, which the young skeleton immediately points out.

“You hesitated. I’m not giving it to you...” Cross frowns as he turns away from the other, slightly hurt that Horror would kill the spider even after knowing that he’s friends with it.

Horror reaches out to the other intending to place his hand on his shoulder, but Cross turns away with a huff, making him feel guilty for upsetting him. “Come on Cross, please? It might hurt you if it decides to bite at your hand.”

“I don’t care! I’m still going to help it. I’ll find it a home in the garden somewhere and you’re not going to stop me!” He storms away from the older skeleton after give him one last glare over his shoulder.

After thinking over his options for a moment, Horror rushes after him. “Cross, wait for me!” 

The other stops for a moment to give him an annoyed look, so Horror takes that moment to talk to him before he can run off again. “Listen, I won’t try to take the spider away from you, but I want to be nearby in case it... does something.” 

Cross honestly thinks he’s being a little overprotective. “I don’t think it’s going to do anything like that, but if it’ll make you happier to watch me then I’ll allow it. But... No. Touching. The. Spider!”

Horror raises his hands in surrender. “I’m not going to, don’t worry. But hey, maybe it would be more comfortable sitting in a jar rather than your hand? Will we go back to the kitchen to get one?” He really doesn’t want it anywhere near Cross’s hand.

Cross shakes his head, much to his frustration. “No, we don’t need to. It’s happy there and I don’t mind carrying it.” 

Horror is about to object, but Cross begins walking away from him. “Let’s go to the garden now.” Guess he isn’t going to get his way after all...

The two make their way down the hallway as Cross happily talks to Horror about a show he’s been watching recently. The other keeps his eye light trained on the arachnid at all times to see if its moving around. He swears if it hurts Cross he’s going to kill it...

Further down the hallway, Dust sips on his coffee as he walks around, trying to wake himself up a bit. He’d pulled an all-nighter the day before and is trying to stay awake for food later on. 

Spotting Horror and Cross walking towards him, he gives them a tired wave. “Hey guys, what’re you-“ 

His exhausted eye lights land on the spider in the child’s hand. He has to do a double take before he realizes what it is. Seeing it certainly wakes him up as he screams. “AAAAHHH, THAT SPIDER IS HUGE!! WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND IT AND WHY IS IT INSIDE!?” He turns to Horror, confused as to why the other isn’t freaking out as much as he is. “WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM CARRY IT AROUND!?”

The other shrugs, though Dust can tell he is pretty tense right now and is eyeing the spider like it’s about to attack at any moment. “Well it’s because he’s not going to let me or you take it for starters. He found it in the kitchen sink and wants to find it a home in the garden. I’m just... accompanying him.”

“Will I come too?” Dust asks, slightly calmer now that he knows Horror is watching the spider intently. He should’ve known that Horror is being careful about this. He’ll also join in on Cross’s mission to help if the child wants him to... and to assist Horror.

Cross studies the other skeleton for malicious intent, in case he’s planning on doing anything to his friend. After a minute, he relents. “Ok, but only _I’m_ allowed to touch the spider. If you hurt it, I won’t be talking to either of you _ever_ again!”

The two older skeletons nod in understanding. Neither of them want to get the silent treatment from Cross. It’s one of the worst punishments the young skeleton would threaten them with.

They follow Cross as he journeys to the garden, his mind completely focused on the task of finding the spider a perfect home. Upon their arrival outside, he examines the area as he tries to work out a good place to start looking.

Horror and Dust look to him expectantly, presuming Cross will just let the spider go now that he’s outside. 

Dust is rather confused that Cross doesn’t appear to be planning to drop it any time soon. “So... now that we’re in the garden, aren’t you going to put it down?”

The child frowns, it wouldn’t be very nice to just put the spider down where he could be accidentally trampled on. “I told you that I’m going to find it a perfect home, I’m not just going to place it down anywhere.”

Horror sighs. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. “Let’s search for a place for it to live then. Where should we start looking, Cross?”

The young skeleton takes a moment to survey the area once again. 

“Over there.” He points to where the majority of the trees, bushes and flowers are located. Hopefully, the spider will like them as much as he does.

As they search, Horror and Dust point out a bunch of different places they claim would make a great home for the spider, but Cross doesn’t agree with them, knowing full well they’re just trying make him get rid of the spider as quick as possible. He’s going to take his time with this task, no matter how much they don’t like it.

He walks to and fro through the garden as he looks, trying to picture a good place for a web. The spider does appear to be getting a little restless on his hand, so perhaps he should hurry up a bit.

It’s then that Cross spots a hollowed out area in the center of one of the trees, big enough to make a decent sized web. It seems like a nice space for the spider to live in, but he has to see if it likes it before he leaves it here. He holds his hands out towards the tree so the spider can climb off and explore it.

It crawls off and goes in like Cross had hoped it would, but it doesn’t really do anything more than walk around a bit before stilling. He fears his new friend might not like it very much, which makes him feel a little defeated.

After watching it for another minute he turns to Horror and Dust standing behind him, giving them a sad look. “I don’t think it likes this tree. Should I pick it up and move it again?”

Both of them look like they’re about to protest to that and Cross sighs knowing they’re going to say no. Looks like he failed his self-appointed task after all...

Just as the two are about to speak, Dust eyes the spider over the child’s shoulder and smiles. “There’s no need to, kiddo. Look behind you.”

Cross looks back at his friend and beams as he realizes it’s begun making a web. 

“Yay! I did it!” He cheers as he proudly watches the spider create its new web in the home _he_ found for it. “See how happy it is now?”

“Great job, Cross.” Horror praises him, despite not really getting why this is making Cross so happy. But if giving this arachnid a home made him feel happy and proud of himself, then Horror isn’t going to complain about it too much.

Dust also gives him a thumbs up and an affectionate pat on the skull. “Yeah, you did amazingly. It does seem pretty happy now, doesn’t it.” He also feels like he should add ‘Thank stars it’s not inside anymore!’ but he knows that could upset Cross, so he keeps his mouth shut.

Horror suddenly remembers that he was meant to be making food before all this started. He takes out his phone then to check the time, his eye sockets widening a little when he realizes it’s later than he thought it was. “Shoot! Cross we should probably start making lunch... like right now!” He doesn’t want the meal too late in the day...

In all the excitement of finding the spider a home, Cross had forgotten all about lunch too. He knows how much Horror cares about them all eating enough, so he feels a little guilty for delaying him. He’d work extra hard to make it up to him. “Ok, let’s go!”

“I’ll help too!” Dust announces as he bends over for Cross to climb onto his back. He could run pretty fast even with the extra weight and it would allow all three of them to get to the kitchen in record time. The quicker they get there and make lunch, the better.

Horror blinks gratefully at the other as Cross climbs onto his back, obviously pretty happy he gets a piggy back ride. He’s happy the others remember how important it is to him that he makes and eats every meal within a certain timeframe, otherwise he gets kind of... cranky...

With Cross hanging on tightly, the three race off to the kitchen. Hopefully with their help, Horror will get the meal done on time.

***

Horror rests his weary eye light as he lays back on the couch, feeling pretty exhausted after everything that has happened today. He had thankfully managed to finish making lunch for everyone with the tight time limit, but damn had it worn him out.

He spots the remote by his feet and just as he’s contemplating turning the television on and watching something for a change, Cross enters the room.

“Hey Horror. I found another insect while I was in the bathroom washing my hands, but I have no idea what kind it is. I don’t think it’s a spider this time. Can you tell me what it is?”

Horror is pretty sure he must look done with life right about now. Seriously!? Two insects in the hideout in one day!? Could this day get any worse?

“Alright.” He slowly gets off the couch and walks over to where the other is standing. “Show me exactly where it is.”

Horror tiredly follows Cross, struggling to keep up with the energetic child as he skips down the hallways. 

Eventually, they arrive at the bathroom where the child had been. Cross points to something on the floor. “There it is, it’s moved from where it was before though...”

Horror sees it. He blinks once. Twice. Then it finally hits him and he realizes just what exactly he’s looking at right now...

OH FFFFFU-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What insect could possibly have left Horror so spooked? I’ll let ye guess that. :D. Not sure how either insect got inside, but that’s not too important!
> 
> So if you're wondering "why are Dust and Horror so petrified of spiders in this?" I'd say it's more they're terrified because Cross is the one holding it, it’s one of the bigger spiders they’ve seen in a while, there's always a possibility it might have a venomous bite, NIGHTMARE'S NOT HOME AT THE MOMENT AND STARS WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO IF SOMETHING HAPPENS!?!?... kind of thing :3. Also I have no idea what kind of spider it was either. Just one that was pretty big!
> 
> Also no joke, a spider legit crawled over my phone screen as I was writing this. I totally didn’t chuck my phone a few inches away in fear... :/
> 
> Hope all of ye have a wonderful day!


	13. No more pictures! (Fluff and Humour) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killer has a small crisis on his hands when his phone goes missing and he's unable to take cute pictures of Cross. How will he survive the movie marathon without it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a request for Maxils who wanted to see Killer losing his phone at the worst possible moment when Cross is being really cute in front of him. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Wanted to do something particularly fluffy and cute since certain undertale animators and other authors (they'll know who they are if they're reading this) have been dragging me on a feels trip over the past week that I can't handle! Loved watching/reading them, but wow, did I require some happiness and fluff after. So I needed to write this badly haha. 
> 
> Happy reading!

Killer barges into the living room, where Nightmare, Dust, Horror and Cross have just finished assembling a large pillow fort for the latest movie marathon they’re about to have. All of them are confused by how frantic he appears to be right now.

“GUYS, this is URGENT! Has anyone seen my phone recently?” He hasn’t seen it since this morning, when it just vanished from the table he’s _positive_ he left it on. He has to find it before they start watching anything, otherwise he’s going to be missing some great photo opportunities! At this stage, he feels as if he’s looked everywhere and still there’s no sign of it!

The others all shake their skulls in response to the question, making him groan in frustration. Why did this have to happen to him today of all days!? Maybe he should just have one more search around the hideout for it?

“Alright. Just... give me another few minutes to look for it before we start!” 

Before he can take a step back out of the room, Cross marches up to him and grabs his arm, attempting to pull him into the fort with an impatient look on his face. “Come on, Killer! We’re about to start now and I don’t want to wait any longer! You don’t need your phone to watch the movies with us!”

“But-.“ Killer tries to object, but one sad look from Cross is all it takes for him to give in. “Ok, ok, I’m coming.”

The young skeleton drags him into the fort and pushes him down so he’s sitting on one of the cushions. Just to guarantee he won’t try to escape at any time during the night, Cross sits on his lap so he can’t get up without moving him, giving the other a cheeky victorious grin as he does so.

“You happy now then?” Killer asks, smirking at Cross’s behavior.

“Yep! Now no moving until we’re finished!” The child demands as he glares at him, his arms folded.

Killer laughs, raising his hands in surrender. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t even thinking about it.”

Cross nods before he turns to look at the television, seemingly satisfied with that answer. “Good.”

The others all exchange amused looks before Nightmare picks up the remote nearby and presses the play button.

They all snuggle closely to one another as the first film of the night starts, with Nightmare’s tentacles curling around the group protectively.

Killer manages to temporarily forget about the loss of his phone for the first twenty minutes of that film, but remembers when he sees that Cross has some of the chocolate he had been eating smudged all over his face. 

He wishes he could ask one of the others for their phones, but he knows Cross will scold him if he disturbs them during the film. 

Not being able to take any photos of this adorable moment is torture! He needs to be able to have these moments saved on his phone for when things go back to normal, so he can remember them ~~and tease an older Cross about them.~~! 

He lets out a heavy sigh before focusing his attention back on the film again. He’s just got to resist the urge to get up and search for his phone. That should be easy enough to do right? He can sit still, watch this movie and _not_ think about all these cute photos he won’t have on his phone because the stupid thing decided to go missing.

...

Doing it is so much harder than he thought it would be...

By the time the third film comes to its end, Cross has lost the majority of his energy and is beginning to fall asleep, his skull resting on Killer’s shoulder. The older skeleton completely stills, not wanting to disturb him up when he looks so comfortable. Damn it though, why does Cross have to look so cute right now!? Is he doing this on purpose to tease him or something!?

Cross yawns sleepily as he nuzzles Killers shoulder, closing his eye sockets to rest. It’s nice to be able to cuddle him without worrying that he’s going to start taking more embarrassing photos of him on his phone. He’d been doing that _a lot_ lately, which had been making him kind of grumpy. Killer always took photos that made him look like a baby bones, but he’s not one of those!

So today he decided that he had had enough and needed to take action before their scheduled pillow fort movie marathon. When Killer was distracted by one of the others, he took his phone and gave it to one of his dolls for safekeeping. He knew Killer wouldn’t look for it in his room, never expecting he had been the reason for its disappearance..

Everyone else but Killer knows about his plan too and they had all agreed not to tell him the phone’s location until after the films are all over. He can guess they’re all pretty amused by Killer’s frustration right about now.

He is going to explain to Killer why he took it when he gives it back, so hopefully the other will understand the reason he did and won’t overdo it with the photos again.

He has to admit to himself that he does feel a _teensy_ bit guilty for hiding it from him...

Maybe he should tell him where it is now, so he won’t be searching for it all night?

Before he can do that, Cross is wrapped up in a blanket by one of the others. Feeling the soft material’s warmth on his bones instantly makes him more sleepy as he fully relaxes.

He’s sure Killer can survive the night without his phone.

He’ll definitely explain everything to him and why he did all this...

Tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleepy boy :3
> 
> Edit: Cross gave the phone to the Killer doll for safekeeping, because he thought that if any doll could keep it safe, it would be that one. :D
> 
> Have a great day/night.


	14. Alone again... (Bad Ending) T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Most of these one-shot chapters are so fluffy...  
> Hmm... you guys mind if I... do something a little... different =).  
> Readers: (｡ŏ_ŏ) Uhh...
> 
> Me: Alright then! Different it is :3
> 
> So this chapter is definitely not canon to the main story. Think of it as a... alternate timeline... that would’ve taken place around Chapter 16 of the main story had a certain character done something a little differently. To be more specific that chapter is after Cross is rescued but it’s before Ink figures out how he can get into the hideout.
> 
> Hope ye enjoy.

How long has it been since he’s seen another living being?

Cross honestly isn’t sure anymore. The days all started to blend together after two weeks of being stuck here in the hideout alone. 

He has no idea what happened to everyone else.

Every thing seemed to be going normally on the day of the gang’s disappearance. Nightmare told him they were planning to go destroy some AUs and that Fresh would be coming over to look after him as usual. He was ok with that, he could play some fun games with the colorful skeleton while he was over and he knew Nightmare and the others would be back later that day like they always were. 

Only... this time... they didn’t come back.

Cross could tell Fresh was really worried when they didn’t come back at their usual time. He tried ringing every member’s phone on a few occasions, but none of them answered. Error had also gone with the gang that day, so Fresh had tried to get into contact with him too. There was no response.

Cross remained positive that the gang had just got a little held up and would be back any moment, but when his bed time passed and there was still no sign of them, he began to feel very anxious.

Fresh tried to reassure him that they’d be back in the morning and he should try to get some sleep, but Cross didn’t want to until he knew the others were safe and sound back in the hideout. The other agreed he could stay up a little longer while he tried to figure out what was keeping them. He probably realized there was no way Cross was going to be able to sleep not knowing what had happened to them.

By the time morning came, Cross was completely exhausted. Now both of them were panicking, though Fresh had attempted to stay calm for his sake. He suggested he might leave the hideout for an hour to search for the others, knowing what AUs they planned to head to and hoping he’d be able to find them there. Cross cried when he first mentioned the idea, begging him not to leave him all alone. That had stopped him from going for a while, but Cross could tell Fresh still wanted to go, since he’d be able to help them out if they were in trouble.

After another day of waiting, Fresh insisted he had to search, telling Cross there was a possibility that the gang could be really hurt somewhere and without help they might not make it. Cross knew Fresh had a point and he didn’t want them to be in more danger because of him, so he had finally agreed to letting him go.

Fresh promised he’d only be gone for an hour and then he’d be back. After giving him one last reassuring squeeze as he promised him that, he left through the portal, leaving him alone. Cross knew deep in his soul that Fresh wouldn’t be returning to the hideout again. That fear turned out to be true when an hour went by and he didn’t come back.

He was all alone again...

He had no idea what to do. It’s not like he could contact anyone if he wanted to, so that wasn’t an option. 

The first thing he had done was gather all of the dolls Error gave him and move them to the couch in the sitting room. They made him feel somewhat less lonely, even though they could _never_ be as good company as the real gang. 

He thought maybe if he distracted himself with different games and the television, that he wouldn’t think too much about how lonely he truly felt. Someone would come for him soon anyway, he was so sure of it.

He didn’t want to lose hope that they’d come for him again, like he had done when he was in the Star Sanses base with Ink. He knew he shouldn’t give up hope that they’d come for him like they did then and he didn’t want to be miserable again. Nobody could control his actions again this time, so he wanted to spend his time alone in the hideout as optimistic as possible. 

It was only a matter of time before they’d come back again. The gang had to be fine, after all they’re so cool, strong and amazing! He was sure they were just being held up somewhere for a _really_ long time and they’d come home eventually, giving him some long explanation about where they had gotten stuck and why they couldn’t get back into the hideout. They’d apologize and he’d forgive them, like how they forgive him all the time for messing up. Then everything would go back to normal!

Or at least... that’s what he kept telling himself...

Distracting himself had worked well for about the first three days, before he began to truly feel the effects of being stuck there without any adults around. He realized then he hadn’t eaten a decent cooked meal in five days. He had to settle for food he could reach in the lower cabinet, so he often just had poorly made sandwiches that first week. He really misses Horror’s cooking...

That first week he had considered trying to cook something up for himself. But Horror warned him before that he should never go near the stove or oven without him or Nightmare being present, saying it could be really dangerous and he might get hurt. So Cross resisted the urge to try, even though he was often tempted to.

He soon ran out of ingredients on the lower shelves and has had to resort to climbing on chairs and unbalanced pillow stacks to reach food in higher places ever since. He fell off a few times as he stretched to reach some items, landing awkwardly on the floor afterwards with a loud cry of pain. After a few seconds of clutching an injured limb close to his chest and blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from his eye sockets, he would get up to try again. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have anything to eat after all and he didn’t want to starve before the others got back.

Sometimes, he’d call out for one of the others, forgetting they hadn’t come back yet. It always made him want to cry when he got no response, but he would aim to distract himself again before that could happen. There was no point in getting stupidly upset in case he couldn’t stop himself from crying all day. He needed to trust in the others eventual return and stop being so stupid.

Soon though he found that nothing could distract him from thoughts of the gang for long. 

He doesn’t feel like doing anything now, since everything he did reminded him of how lonely he is. 

Every other room is way too quiet for his liking. There’s no one wandering the hallways, no Nightmare working in his office, no Horror making a meal in the kitchen, no Dust messing with chemicals in his room and no Killer sparring in the training room. It just doesn’t feel like home around here anymore without all of them...

That’s why two weeks after their disappearance, Cross chose to instead stay curled up on his bed in his room, sleeping most of the time and leaving only if he really had to. It’s why he doesn’t even know what day it is any more, though he can guess it’s probably been another week since then. 

Cross rubs his eye sockets tiredly as he attempts to wake himself up a bit. He’s pretty sure he’s been staring blankly at the ceiling for the past few hours, lost in his own thoughts... again. He’s hungry and slightly dehydrated, so he knows he should probably get up to fix those.

He yawns as he kicks the blanket off himself, still feeling pretty groggy from sleeping so much. Grabbing the Nightmare doll from his bedside, he hugs it close to his chest as he leaves his room. It feels nothing like the real Nightmare’s cuddles...

Sniffling now, he travels through many lonely hallways until he arrives at the kitchen. He places the doll down on the countertop before grabbing a nearby chair and standing on it to peek into one of the cabinets. This one is nearly empty of food that he can eat now. How much longer will he have food for? ~~Is he gonna starve!? Will he die here alone, never knowing what happened to everyone else!?~~

Trying to ignore his negative thoughts, he grabs a packet of crackers from the back of cabinet before hopping down from the chair and back onto the floor. He then grabs a glass from the cupboard and fills it up with water from a nearby tap, immediately taking a big sip of that after to quench his thirst. He picks the doll up from the countertop again, holding it awkwardly under his arm so he’ll be able to carry everything back with him in one trip.

Exiting the kitchen, he forces himself to munch on a few of the crackers as he heads back to his room again. He’s so sick of them, since they honestly make him feel ill when he eats them now. But there really isn’t anything else left for him. 

The crackers have made his mouth dry again, making him feel even more thirsty. 

Cross sighs before taking another sip of the water. He probably won’t have any left in the glass by the time he gets back to his room at this rate. 

He’s so tired of being alone here...

How much longer can he keep this up before he goes insane from the loneliness, from not having any decent food... from not having his family here with him?

Why have none of them come back yet? He... he doesn’t understand, what could possibly be delaying them so long!? He just wants them to come home so badly!

He wants Fresh to come play dress up with him like he does sometimes and Error to show him how he makes his dolls. 

He wants Dust to give him a piggy back around the hideout and for Horror to teach him to cook new things. 

He wants Killer to show him different stuff he’s collected around the multiverse and to teach him about some of the AUs.

And he really wants Nightmare... He’d comfort him in this situation and would let him know that everything is going to be fine. 

...

Why did they all leave him here? They said they’d be fine while they were out, that they fought Ink often and they’d always come back, so why haven’t they? 

He’s crying again now, he realizes, but he can’t wipe the tears away when his arms are full. So he lets them flow freely from his eye sockets this one time, telling himself he won’t let it happen again ~~even if he knows it definitely will.~~

Arriving back at his room, he places both the glass and crackers on the bedside table. He goes to shut the door then, but pauses when he thinks he hears some noise nearby. He pokes his skull out of the doorway, listening more closely. 

It kind of sounds like...

Cross lets out a small gasp, his eye lights brightening as he realizes what it is.

A portal!

His family are finally home!

A huge smile appears on his face as he begins running in the direction of the sound, clutching the doll in his right hand and using his left to wipe his remaining tears.

He quickly determines that it’s coming from the sitting room and enters the room, yelling excitedly. “Guys! I knew you’d come back for-!“

He freezes in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at the newcomer, his smile gone now. 

It’s not one of the gang, or Fresh or Error. He got his hopes up for nothing...

There’s no way the skeleton standing in front of him should’ve been able to get into the hideout. He didn’t have access into this AU, so how is here now? 

After closing the portal, the other takes a step forward and reaches out to him, making Cross immediately take a step back with a fearful whimper. He hugs the Nightmare doll to his chest tightly as he watches the other closely, scared of what he might try. 

The other winces at the sound of his whimper and takes a few steps back, his arms raised to show he’s not going to hurt him. “Hey Cross. It’s alright, I’m-“

“H-How did y-you g-get in here, Dream?” Cross can’t stop his voice from shaking as he speaks for the first time in weeks. He’s not sure if it’s doing that from disuse or because of his fear.

The question seems to catch Dream off guard, clear surprise evident on his face. “I... someone told me how to get in. It took them a while to tell me, but now I’m finally here for you, Cross.” 

Dream crouches down so he’s at the same level as Cross, looking directly into his eye lights as he talks to him. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to find you here, but you’ll be ok now. We can go back to the base together and you’ll be safe there, like you were before. You don’t have to worry about Nightmare or the others hurting you anymore. They’re... being taken care of now.”

Cross begins to tremble at the mention of his family, knowing now that the Star Sanses had something to do with his disappearance. What does Dream mean when he says ‘they’re being taken care of’!? What have they done to them!?

Dream extends his hand towards him, disrupting Cross’s thoughts. “Come here, Cross. I know you’re scared, but I promise this time, you’ll be fine. Nobody will hurt you again.”

Cross shakes his skull as he backs away from Dream fearfully. There’s no way he’s going back there. He’s tempted to run away but... he needs Dream to tell him about the others. 

“Wh-Where are t-they? Wh-What h-happened to N-Nightmare and t-the others?” He asks the other timidly, really fearing the answer he’s going to receive.

Dream hesitates for a moment, giving him a worried look. “Cross... I told you, you don’t have to worry about them anymore and I don’t think I sh-.“

“Just tell m-me where t-they are!” Cross yells at the guardian, wanting Dream to stop avoiding the question and just answer him. He can’t stand not knowing what happened to the others!

Dream seems taken aback by his anger. He opens his mouth to speak before closing it a moment later, seemingly unsure what to answer.

After another few seconds, he sighs heavily, a sad smile on his face as he finally explains. “I really didn’t want to have to tell you this but they... they’re being imprisoned back at the base in separate rooms and are being heavily guarded so they can’t escape... I’m still pretty unsure about the idea of keeping them locked up like that, but Ink says it’ll keep the AUs safe and I have to agree that he’s right. It’s the only way to protect everyone and... Cross, are you ok?”

Cross’s eye sockets are pitch black, his eye lights having vanished from shock. He shakes as he struggles to hold himself together after hearing what Dream just said. 

It... it couldn’t be true, could it? The gang are too clever to have been captured by the Star Sanses, right? There... there’s no way what Dream’s after telling him is true. He has to be lying!

But... that story made the most amount of sense, Cross realizes in horror. Why else would the gang just disappear without any warning, leaving him here all alone? How else could Dream have learned the access code into the hideout? One of the others must have told him how to get in, but why? Did the Star Sanses force them to tell them, just so they could find him? Are they being hurt because of him?

Stars, what’s going to happen to them all now? Ink imprisoned all of them, but what is he planning to do next? 

All these thoughts are making him panic and he’s finding it’s difficult to breathe now. 

He can’t contact the gang, so is there anyone else he can trust anymore?

Blue. 

Blue will be able to help him again, he’s sure of it! He’ll free the others and keep him safe in the meantime! Maybe he can convince Dream to bring him here? 

He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself and his eye lights return again, although they’re definitely much dimmer than before.

He gives Dream a pleading look, hoping it’ll make him listen to his demands. “I w-want Blue. Can y-you bring h-him here? I’m n-not l-leaving the h-hideout unless h-he comes. I... I feel s-safer when he’s around.”

He notices that Dream looks saddened by the mention of his fellow team member. He wonders if something bad happened between the two of them for the other to seem so upset. Will Blue even come here to help him if the two are arguing?

It takes Dream a little while to recover before he finally answers, unable to look at him as he does so. “I... I can’t do that, Cross. Blue... he... he just disappeared two weeks ago. Nobody’s seen him since then. I... I have no idea where he is. We’ve been searching all over the multiverse, but so far there’s been no sign of him.”

Cross’s breathing hitches as his mind races in panic, thinking just how messed up things have become. Can they get any worse than they already are?

His family have been taken from him, locked away somewhere by the Star Sanses with little chance of escape. Everyone he cares about is unreachable...

He’s going to be stuck with Dream and Ink again, this time with no hope of rescue...

No one’s going to be there to protect him anymore...

And what about the balance!?  
Stars, who is going to protect the balance now!? Who is going to be able to stop Ink from creating so many AUs that the multiverse implodes!?

The answer is painfully obvious. 

No one will...

T̵͇̎h̷̞͌e̸̞͝ ̸̠̔ṃ̷̂ŭ̴͖l̸͚̍t̶̺͐i̸͖v̶̘̐ẽ̴̯r̴͇̈́s̸̪͛ḛ̴͂ ̶̗͂i̷̹͠s̶̠̽ ̸̛̻d̷̺̚o̴̮̿o̷̩͋m̶͖͊ẹ̶̛d̴͕͠ ̶̙̍a̵̦͂n̸̤̂d̵̛̗ ̴̲̍i̵͈͒t̶̞͠'̸̜͑s̶͉̓ ̶͈̆a̵͎̕l̸̜̿ḻ̶͋ ̷̲̊I̶̭̋n̷̾ͅk̵̭̋'̷̘̎ș̷̐ ̶͎̅f̷̯͝a̴̻͠u̸̖̇l̷̠̍t̶̡̅!̸̙̓

Cross falls to his hands and knees, dropping the Nightmare doll on the floor beside him as he begins to cry. He gets louder and louder until he’s wailing, his soul so full of grief and sadness that it feels like it’s shattering. How did everything go so wrong, so fast?

Dream rushes over, slightly panicked as he watches Cross break down in front of him, having little idea what could be causing Cross to be having such strong, negative emotions. It hurts him to be this close, but he still opts to hug the young skeleton, grimacing slightly at the pain he feels though ignoring it to try to comfort Cross.

Cross thinks about shoving Dream away, to scream at him to get lost. But... he finds he really doesn’t have the strength to. He continues to wail and tremble as the other attempts to soothe him. 

Dream rubs his back gently, very similar to how Nightmare would comfort him. Thinking that just makes Cross cry even harder and Dream grimaces as he basically screams into his non-existent ear.

The guardian of positivity seems to have no idea how to handle this situation, continuing with his efforts to calm him down even though they’re not doing any good. 

He tries talking to him, yelling over his cries so he can be heard. “Cross... shh... it’s ok... I promise everything’s going to fine... we’ll find Blue if that’s what’s gotten you so upset... I’m sure he’ll turn up soon... um...” 

He spots the fallen doll on the floor, picking it up and holding it out to the child, hoping that might help. “Here, will cuddling your doll make you feel any better? It’s really soft and...” He inspects the doll in his hand more closely, his eye sockets widening when he sees who the doll is meant to be based off of. “It... looks like Nightmare? What-”

Cross whimpers when he sees one of his favorite dolls in the other’s hand. He quickly snatches it away from Dream before he can study it further and holds it close to his chest, scared that he’ll try to take it away from him otherwise. He sniffles as he checks the doll for any damage, relieved to see that there isn’t any.

The guardian of positivity just blinks confusedly at him, obviously wondering where he got the doll from and why it looks like his brother. He seems to brush it off when he sees that Cross isn’t as upset anymore and he smiles at him. “Well, at least you seem to be doing a little better now that you’re holding it. That’s good.”

Dream tries to give Cross a reassuring, gentle squeeze but is ignored by the child, who’s completely lost in his own thoughts. 

His throat feels completely dry and sore from all his wailing earlier. He’s worn himself out, but tears still continue to stream down his face as he cries quietly now, way too tired to do anything else.

He wishes this could all just be a bad dream, that he’ll wake up to find everything is fine and none of this actually happened.

But he knows this is all real...

H̴̠̆e̷̲̚ ̴̩͋w̸̞̉i̷̖͑l̷̥͝l̷͉̓ _n̴̮̈́ḙ̷͗v̴̛͙e̴̻͋ŕ̸ͅ_ b̴͓͂e̵̮ ̵̜̿w̶͔͊a̵̭͐k̶̯͒i̵̩̐ñ̸̡ĝ̶̫ ̵̹̕ú̷͔p̵͚̈ ̶͔̊f̸͈r̵͇̕ǫ̷͝m̴̥̈́ ̸͙͌t̷͈̀h̸̲̏i̵͚̿s̷̫͗.̵̭̽.̶̨̚.̷̘̂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you all think? :3
> 
> I’m sure you all have questions about how this could’ve happened and the fates of some of the characters, since this was all Cross’s point of view.
> 
> I’d be happy to answer them in the comment section :D.


	15. IT’S ALIVE!?! (Humour) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of everybody’s (well maybe not everybody’s but loads of you liked him so eh) favorite pet rock, Roky!
> 
> This chapter is (sadly) not canon to the main story because I don’t know how I’d include Roky as a character there without messing with the story too much :(. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think more about his character background or anything like that though, because I did haha :D.
> 
> I did mainly write this chapter purely for fun though :P.
> 
>  **Special thanks** to PrincessJaybird once again for the name and idea of Roky, to Kinqqy for the idea of the rock being alive, to PitchBlackWings for giving me loads of ideas by asking Qs about Roky, to BookwyrmFinallyGotAnAccount for chatting with me in the comments and coming up with hilarious extra scenes for this series that may as well be their own work and finally to call_me_divaa for being an awesome writer and inspiring me to keep trying by giving me such nice comments that really helped to encourage me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey to all you wonderful people out there! So, uh... I have not posted any chapters for anything in over a month and a half, which honestly makes me feel really bad. I really needed a break from writing for a bit due to many problems including writers block and my health. I tried to come back multiple times, but kept finding myself getting distracted when I tried to sit down and write. I also started doubting my writing abilities a bit because at times it gets reallly cringy. ~~There’s too many great authors on AO3 OK, if anyone needs an amazing read I could recommend so many authors.~~ But I’m back now and hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of things soon. 
> 
> Apologies to anyone who might be annoyed I didn’t post anything for the main story, but for this instead. I am REALLY struggling with the next chapter and I’m going to need quite a lot of time to figure it out. I also desperately need to update my other series first before I get back to Xtra Small. I’ll try to post one more shorter one-shot later on in the week, but then I really need to work on my other series like I said. One of the later chapters for Xtra Small has been fully written already though, so I do have some good news about it :).
> 
> Forgive the grammar mistakes as usual :/. Hopefully I got them all but there always seems to be one I miss somewhere.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience and I hope you all have an incredible day.
> 
> Enjoy this wacky chapter!

Cross cheerfully carries his pet rock around the hideout and outside to the garden, softly petting Roky as he goes. He knows he should really teach him to stop being so lazy and get him to move about the place himself, but Cross honestly enjoys spoiling him like this. He understands that the rock definitely prefers to be carried around by someone than to make the effort to go somewhere himself. He can’t really scold him for that, knowing how much he himself enjoys being carried around too. ~~The piggybacks he gets from the gang are the best after all!~~ Also so far he’s never able to persuade Roky to come out to the garden without having to carry him out here, even when he tells him it’s time for his daily walk. It’s a battle he always loses, so Cross just opts to pick him up and take him outside after a few minutes of waiting ~~impatiently~~ for the rock to bother moving.

Roky is currently sporting his special black harness and lead, so he can explore the garden without Cross losing sight of him. It’s his favorite area of the hideout and pretty much the only place where Cross can coax him to move around.

Holding onto the end of the lead, he places Roky gently on the ground and nudges him towards a nearby clump of dark purple flowers, remembering that he had seemed to be interested in them on a previous walk. 

Cross huffs in frustration when the rock doesn’t even move an inch towards the flowers. Why is getting his pet rock some exercise always so difficult?

He takes a few steps forward and crouches down, patting the ground beside him as he beckons the rock to move. “Come on, Roky! You need your walk and I’m not bringing you back inside until you move around a little!”

He gets no response from him at all, making him sigh a little.

This is going to take a while...

Killer smiles in amusement from a small distance away as he watches the young skeleton trying to talk the rock into moving on it’s own. He has no idea why Cross insisted on the lead and harness to take the rock on these walks, but he’s secretly so happy he did. This is the best entertainment he’s had in ages! 

His phone buzzes in his pocket, so Killer takes his eyelights off Cross and the rock for a moment to check his new message. It’s just Horror telling everyone in their group chat that lunch will be ready in half an hour. 

Killer quickly sends a reply saying he’ll be there before pocketing his phone and turning his attention back to Cross again.

Only...  
The child isn’t where Killer last saw him.

WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO!?

Killer panics a little when his eyelights scan the area around him and he is unable to spot Cross anywhere close by. There’s no way he could have gone too far, since he was only looking at his phone for about twenty seconds at most, so where-?

Killer stops in his tracks as he spots movement in the distance, though he has to squint in order to see what he’s looking at.

Cross is affectionately petting and praising the rock a _couple hundred steps away_ in the distance!? How in the multiverse had he managed to carry the rock all that distance in so little time!? Did he _sprint_ over there while holding it!? It’s quite heavy even for Killer to carry sometimes, so there’s no way Cross should’ve been able... to...

Killer actually takes a step back in shock when he spots something by his feet.

Some of the grass in the garden has been flattened as if something heavy pushed it down. It makes a path from the location where Roky was originally to where it’s positioned now. It was moved along the ground!?

Did Cross actually _push_ the rock that far himself!?

How is that even possible to do in that time!?

Killer makes his way over to Cross and the rock, utterly bewildered by what’s just happened.

Cross sees him approaching and waves him over, a huge smile on his face. 

“Hi Killer! Look how far Roky moved on his own!” He points to the flattened grass track the rock _apparently_ just made. “It’s the furthest I’ve ever seen him move and he went really fast too! I think he likes how the moonlight is shining through the trees onto this spot, which is probably why he moved so quickly. He really seems to like this spot don’t you think, Killer?” 

Killer just continues to stare unblinking at the rock, the one that somehow _moved_ on it’s own all the way over here according to Cross. Well... It’s certainly not moving right now. 

Is he just pretending it moved by itself as part of a game he’s playing. That has to be it, right?

There’s no way the rock could be...

Could it?

...

Perhaps he’ll talk to Nightmare about this later...

* * *

Later that day, the young monochrome skeleton enters the kitchen with his pet rock in hand. Horror is in there currently reorganizing some of the shelves and cabinets, taking stock of what food they’ll need to get during their next AU raid.

Cross tugs on his sleeve to get his attention. “Horror! Can you watch Roky for me for a moment? I’m just going to grab something from my room and I don’t want him to be lonely while he waits for me to get back...”

Horror chuckles. Of course Cross would be worried about the rock being lonely without him. “Sure thing, Cross. Just put him over by the edge of the countertop so I can continue working while watching him.”

“Ok, thank you!” Cross beams as he walks over to far side of the countertop and places the rock down. He gives it a quick pat before turning to leave. 

“I’ll be back in a minute. Be good for Horror, Roky!”

Cross sprints off then, leaving Horror smiling at his actions as he focuses on the cabinets again. He takes all of the food out and organizes it neatly on the counter, trying to decide what they’ll need to get more of.

Unfortunately, Horror still suffers with some memory problems resulting from the injury received to his skull, so he knows he’ll need to write all this down somewhere in order to remember it later. That’s why he usually carries a small notebook around with him in the hideout to help jog his memory, since the pages are easily tearable and so he doesn’t need to waste space on his phone with loads of notes that he won’t need for more than a day. He finds that the notebook isn’t in the pocket where it usually is though.

Perhaps he left it in the dining room while he was eating earlier?

Taking a glance into the adjacent room, he finds that it is indeed placed on the table in front of where he had been sitting. He must have written down something during lunch and forgotten he’d done so... again. 

Sometimes he really does wonder if his memory is improving at all like the others say it is...

Grumbling a bit to himself, he grabs the notebook from the table and flips through a few pages as he makes his way back into the kitchen. There doesn’t seem to be anything too important written down, so Horror finds a new, blank page to write stuff down on.

He taps his chin as he looks over the items laid out on the countertop, wondering what he should write down to get for later.

He notices that their sprinkle supply is running pretty low, probably due to all the times Cross feeds the rock... that’s...

...

Hold on...

Didn’t Cross place the rock at the edge of the table, away from all the food? He’s almost sure he did, so why is it currently positioned right next to some of the items, nearer to the center of the counter than the edge?

Horror curses his bad memory as he writes down that they need more sprinkles, before turning his attention towards the rest of the food supply. He probably just imagined Cross placing it down elsewhere. There’s no other explanation for the rock suddenly to look like it’s been moved after all. 

He thinks nothing of it as he finishes listing off everything they need and begins placing everything back in the cabinets. 

Horror’s hand freezes as it reaches for the sprinkles.

The rock... 

The DAMN ROCK is sitting right next to the JAR OF SPRINKLES!? It’s moved at least a foot from where he last saw it, this time he’s certain of it! Is someone playing a prank on him or some shit!? But how could anyone be moving it without him noticing!?

WHAT IS GOING ON!?

Horror keeps his eye lights trained on the rock until Cross arrives back in the kitchen a few minutes later, clutching one of his action figures.

The older skeleton can guess Cross ran back, since it takes him a moment to catch his breath before he begins speaking. “Sorry I took so long! How’s-“

He spots his pet rock next to the sprinkle jar and lets out an annoyed sounding sigh as he walks over to it. “It’s not time for food again yet, Roky! You just ate a few minutes ago.”

He shakes his skull in disappointment, picking up the rock and petting it gently before making his way out of the room again, talking to it the whole time.

“Come on. Let’s go watch some TV for a little while. I promise I’ll feed you after we get through a few episodes, ok?”

His voice raises in volume as he addresses the other skeleton for a moment. “Thanks again for watching him, Horror!” Cross yells to him before exiting the room.

Horror is left standing there completely stunned, continuing to stare at the doorway long after Cross has left, trying to comprehend what just happened.

Did the rock... just...

He shakes his skull and lets out a nervous chuckle.

No way! It’s not possible for the rock to move on it’s own!

...

Horror takes out a pen, deciding to scribble what he just witnessed down in his notebook for later. 

Maybe Nightmare will know what’s going on...

* * *

Dust has no idea if his mind is playing tricks on him because of the sleep deprivation he’s been suffering as of late, but he’s _pretty sure_ Cross’s pet rock just traveled from one side of the room to the other somehow by itself.

He’d closed his eye lights for just a moment while laying on the couch and opened them to find that Roky was no longer right next to Cross on one of the cushions on the floor. 

The young skeleton is completely engrossed in the action show he’s watching. It looks as if he hasn’t moved an inch since it started. Dust wonders if he’s even noticed that Roky is no longer beside him.

“Cross?” He takes a moment to yawn before continuing. “Do you know that Roky has been moved in front of the door over there?” 

He makes an attempt to show where it is but is way too tired to put much effort into it. He hangs his arm limply off the side of the couch, with one phalange lazily pointing at Roky.

Cross looks down in confusion at the spot where his pet rock had been just moments ago before turning to look in the direction of Dust’s pointed finger, a small look of surprise on his face. 

“Oh! No, I didn’t notice. Thanks for telling me, Dust.” 

He pushes himself off the ground and walks over to the rock, immediately bending over and picking it up. “You can’t stay here, Roky, someone might come in and trip over you.”

Cross returns to his spot and places the rock on his lap once he’s sat down on the cushion again. He begins lightly stroking his pet affectionately while he talks to it.

“You’re really hungry today, huh? Wait just a _little_ longer and I’ll feed you then, ok?”

Dust _swears_ he sees an inch of movement from the rock for a second after Cross mentions feeding it, but when he blinks it’s completely still, as if he imagined it.

The young skeleton sitting in front of him giggles at something, patting the rock gently on its... head?

“Good boy, Roky. I’ll make sure to give you some extra chocolate sprinkles later for being so patient.”

Cross leans back, focusing his attention on the show again, but continues to stroke his pet rock while doing so.

After a few minutes wondering what he just saw, Dust decides to just shrug it all off, believing that he’s probably seeing things in his exhausted state. 

He opts to sleep a little more before he goes back to work on the antidote again. 

Closing his eyesockets, he drifts off into a restful sleep...

_For about ten minutes..._

He’s startled awake when someone grabs his shoulder and shakes him out of his peaceful slumber.

“Dust! Wake up!” Someone decides to yell into his non-existent ear, almost scaring the soul out of him.

“I DIDN’T BREAK ANYTHING IN THE KITCHEN, I SWEAR!” He screams as he pushes his attacker off him and opens his eyesockets.

Killer stands closest to him right by the side of the couch with Horror right behind him. Both skeletons are currently giving him questioning looks. 

Dust gives them an innocent smile as he rubs the back of his skull. He really hopes they won’t question his... outburst. “H-hey guys... What do you need?”

Horror rolls his eyelight but doesn’t comment on Dust’s weird behavior. “Killer and I asked Cross to do a small task for us in another room so we could ask you this question without him overhearing. Have you noticed anything... strange about Roky recently.”

Dust frowns as he thinks, trying to recall what happened earlier before he fell asleep. “Maybe? I was pretty tired earlier when I thought I saw it move. I kind of just presumed I was hallucinating though.” 

He expects to see Horror and Killer smirking at the idea that he apparently saw Roky move, considering the idea that this inanimate stone moved on it’s own should sound absolutely ridiculous. 

Instead, he’s surprised that neither skeleton seems fazed by his answer at all, almost like they suspected it.

“Did... both of you see something similar happen then?” He asks curiously, beginning to think he somehow hadn’t just imagined the incident himself and Cross’s pet rock _is_ somehow moving about on it’s own.

Horror and Killer nod their heads in unison in answer to the question. 

Well...  
At least he knows he isn’t going crazy due to lack of sleep anymore! That’s a good thing, right!?

On the other hand, he has absolutely no idea what to do about the ‘mysterious moving rock’ situation.

If he was more awake, he’d probably be feeling more freaked about it, but right now...

He really just wants to sleep a little more...

He doubts Killer and Horror will leave him alone until they get this mess sorted out though.

“We’re going to ask Nightmare if he knows what’s going on, do you wanna come too?” Killer asks him, confirming his thoughts.

Dust sluggishly gets off of the couch, knowing they might not leave him alone if he say’s no. Also he has to admit to himself, he is pretty intrigued by what’s going on. 

“Sure... ughhh...” He places his skull in his hand for a moment, feeling slightly disoriented.

“Just... uh... let me get a coffee first... to wake myself up a bit.” He says to the others, already beginning to slowly make his way over to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

He feels as though he’s going to need to be more awake for this upcoming conversation...

* * *

“Nightmare...”

Nightmare looks up from his desk to see Killer, Horror and Dust standing at the doorway to his office. All of them are looking... kind of scared for some reason?

“What did you do this time, boys?” He asks, immediately knowing that something is. He pushes the papers he’d been working on to the side, guessing that he won’t be getting back to those for a while.

Killer steps forward, deciding to answer for the three of them. “Uh... Nothing this time actually. It’s just that... the three of us have been noticing some... _strange_ things going on with Cross’s pet rock.”

Nightmare becomes a little concerned at that and frowns. “Oh? What kind of strange things?”

Killer fidgets nervously with his hands, not looking at Nightmare as he answers. “Well it seems to um... it’s uh-“

“IT’S MOVING COMPLETELY ON ITS OWN!” Dust blurts out before Killer can finish, receiving a glare from the other as a result.

Nightmare taps his phalanges off his desk in mild annoyance, wondering if this was the whole reason they disturbed him.

“And? He does normally do that from time to time, you know. He’s just too lazy most of the time to want to do so...“

“Wait, he? THE ROCK IS ACTUALLY ALIVE!?” Killer screams at him in disbelief at once. 

In fact, all three are currently giving him shocked looks like this is the first time they’ve heard about this. Nightmare has no idea why this information seems to be a surprise to them?

“Yes? How do you not all know that by now? You were the ones who found him in that OuterTale AU, were you not?” He questions the others.

“Yeah... but we didn’t think _he_ was ALIVE at the time!” Dust points out and the other two nod in agreement.

“That’s true. He didn’t move or... say anything I guess when we picked him up, so we just presumed he was a normal rock, not a monster.” Horror adds, sounding way more calm than Dust at that moment.

“That’s because Roky is mute and was pretty weak when you first brought him here. His negative emotions were exceedingly high at that time and after performing a check, I _thought_ I understood the reason you picked him out of all the other rocks you could’ve just picked up. You all seriously had no idea that he was alive? Did none of you think to perform a check?”

The other three skeletons all shake their skulls, making Nightmare facepalm. “I can’t believe this. You three could’ve easily brought in a dangerous threat to us all without even realizing it, but somehow you managed to pick up the one rock monster who was in need of help.”

“Wait, what? Really!?” Killer responds, astonished by the news.

“Mmm, I couldn’t find out everything about him from the one check, but it seemed like he had pretty much given up hope and was close to dusting before you guys arrived. He apparently didn’t care less that you guys had just taken him from his AU and carried him through a portal to here. Once Cross fed him though and gave him some attention for a little while, he became instantly happier and more lifelike. I kept a close eye on him the first few days, just to be safe, but it seems like he’s perfectly happy to stay here and isn’t going to be a threat to any of us, so I let him stay. There’s seemingly nothing left for him in his home AU that he wants to return to anyway.”

“So let me get this straight...” Killer takes a deep breath before continuing, still looking rather confused by everything Nightmare is after telling them. “Roky has been _one hundred percent alive_ this whole time, but _we didn’t know_ that because he was close to falling down when we found him and _you presumed_ we knew about that?”

“Yes, that perfectly sums it up. I couldn’t think of another reason why you’d bring a rock monster into the hideout instead of just a normal rock like you said you would.”

“Well... he was one of the biggest and nicest looking rocks there. He just stood out the most really, that’s the only reason why we chose him.” Dust admits honestly with a nervous chuckle.

Nightmare sighs. Of course it just happened to be some dumb, random coincidence they picked that rock out of all the others they could have gotten. This sort of thing happens too much...

“Alright... well at least that clears that whole mess up. There’s no need to freak out if you see Roky move, though he barely does so anyway since, like I said before, he’s pretty lazy. So please don’t attack or distress him. I’m sure none of you want to scare Cross by freaking out whenever he does that. I honestly still don’t know how you all didn’t find out he was alive until now, considering he talks about him all the time like he is... Where is Cross right now anyway?”

“He’s-“

“Hi guys!” Cross interrupts Horror as he suddenly appears at the doorway, holding Roky in his arms. 

Nightmare doesn’t miss the way that the others all turn around and choose to stare at the rock in that moment and he rolls his eyelight. They aren’t even being the tiniest bit subtle about it. He hopes Roky isn’t feeling too intimidated right now.

Cross shuffles his feet nervously, looking at the gathered skeletons with worry. “Um... Were you having an important meeting? Am I interrupting you?”

“No, we were just talking.” Nightmare reassures him. “But we’re done now. Do you need something, Cross?”

The young skeleton immediately perks up and walks closer to the group, holding the rock close. “I promised Roky I’d feed him after we watched some TV, but I can’t reach the sprinkle jar by myself. Can one of you get it for me, please?”

Horror is fast to volunteer. “I can do it! I know where it is.”

“I’ll come too!”  
“I’ll join you guys as well.”  
Dust and Killer are also quick to offer to help.

Nightmare narrows his eye light as he studies the three older skeletons, suspicious of their eagerness to help Cross feed Roky all of a sudden. 

He stands up from his desk, intending to join the group to... keep an eye on them. “Should I come too or-?“

“No, we’ve got it!” Killer yells giving him a wide grin as he beckons the others out of the room and waves Nightmare aside. 

Ok, _now_ he _definitely knows_ they’re up to something...

Before he can ask what they’re planning, they’ve all left the room, leaving him standing there alone. 

Nightmare sits down at his desk again and hesitantly gathers the paperwork he put aside, wondering if he should follow the others instead. 

Eventually, he decides not to and picks up a pen to start working once more. He’s warned them not to hurt or bother Roky, so at least he can be assured they won’t do anything _too_ stupid. 

Hopefully this time, he won’t have to spend the _entire_ day trying to clean up one of their messes...

* * *

Once they’re far enough away from Nightmare’s office, Killer nudges Horror with his elbow to get his attention, a wide smile on his face.  
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” He keeps his voice low as they trail behind Cross, trying to keep his voice down so the child won’t hear their discussion.

Horror grins back at him, knowing where this conversation is most likely going. “A bet?”

Killer’s smile stretches further. “Exactly. None of us have actually seen Roky moving from one place to the other, right? We only know he’s done it because he ends up in a completely different place to where we saw him last. So... I’ll bet twenty gold that I’m going to be the first one to see Roky moving about.”

Dust overhears them talking and walks over, wanting to get in on the bet. “Twenty G? Of course I’m not passing the opportunity to get gold so easily. Count me in!”

Horror chuckles at his enthusiasm. “What makes you think it’ll be easy? Nightmare said he’s pretty lazy, remember. It could take a good while before he moves on his own. I think I’ll have the best chance of winning considering I’m probably the most patient out of the three of us.”

Killer folds his arms and gives the other a disbelieving look. “Really, says who? I think I can also be pretty patient when I want to be.”

Dust copies Killer’s actions as he also stares Horror down. “Yeah. Same here. How hard can it be waiting for a rock monster to move?”

Horror just shrugs. “Guess we’ll have to find out...” He smirks as he decides to add. “Can’t wait to collect my prize money off you two.”

Dust rolls his eye lights. “Well, _I_ can’t wait to wipe that stupid, smug grin off your face when I win and you both have to pay me.”

Killer places a hand on both their shoulders to stop them bickering as they enter the kitchen together. “We’ll start as soon as we get the sprinkles down from the cabinet. Let’s agree not to do anything crazy stupid or dangerous to try to win this, especially if it has a chance of upsetting Cross... or Nightmare.”

He gets serious nods of agreement from Horror and Dust. 

“Good.” He turns his attention to Cross as he places Roky on the table, already watching him closely.

“May the best skeleton win...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Lots of you really liked Roky when he was first introduced, so I decided to give him a backstory... and a tragic one at that. ~~FOR ANGST!~~
> 
> He acts a lot like a cat, sleeping for long hours of the day, refusing to move at times and tripping the skeletons up by appearing in random places (Disclaimer: I have a cat and I love her, but she does tend to do all those things to me haha). Cross is definitely his favorite out of the bunch, because he gets food and the most attention from him. Roky needs the care that the others provide urgently, so he doesn’t mind staying with them at all and definitely prefers the idea of living there over returning to OuterTale (which holds bad memories)
> 
> A CHECK performed after being fed would probably show something like this:
> 
> **ROKY**
> 
> LV:1
> 
> HP: 20/20
> 
> EXP: 0
> 
> ATK: 0
> 
> DEF: 50
> 
> Rock monster originating from Outertale copy 17.
> 
> Currently feeling safe, happy and content after being fed and stroked by his favorite skeleton.
> 
> :3
> 
> Feel free to ask more questions in the comments like last time! I’ll happily answer your Roky queries!
> 
> Oh and the bet? I’ll let you decide who won that yourselves ;).


	16. Roky’s Friend (Humour) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Roky finds another rock to be friends with! Too bad Killer needs it to sharpen his knives on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do it...
> 
> As soon as EmmaraldNightmare gave me this idea for Roky I just had to write it as soon as possible while I was motivated and honestly, I had soooo much fun with it :3.
> 
> Thank you so much for this fun chapter idea!  
> Hope you all enjoy!

“Cross! Can you please tell Roky that my whetstone is _not_ a damsel in distress that he’s required to protect from me. I need to use it right now, but he won’t let me get near it.” 

Killer has no idea why Roky has suddenly decided to take interest in the stone he often uses to sharpen his knives, but because he did, the rock monster is acting like Killer’s threatening to hurt his new best friend or something.

He probably should’ve seen this coming, considering Roky has actually been leaving _gifts_ to his sharpening tool over the past few days. Sprinkles, picked flowers from the garden and other small offerings were all left on or beside the whetstone in his room during that time. 

Then it had suddenly vanished from it’s shelf altogether, making Killer suspicious that Cross’s pet rock had something to do with its disappearance.

Killer had soon found Roky with his whetstone in Cross’s room, though it seemed that the rock monster wasn’t too pleased to see him. He seemed to be shaking in what Killer could only guess was anger when he had gotten close. Perhaps Roky had seen him using it to sharpen his knives at some stage and thought he was hurting it? Roky may think the whetstone is alive like him after all.

So now Killer has to deal with an irate rock who won’t let him get near his sharpening tool for fear he’ll injure it. He could probably just try to grab it and leave, but he has a feeling that if he does that, Roky will end up following him around the hideout for the rest of the day and won’t give him any peace.

Hopefully, Cross can get him to calm down so he can use the whetstone in time before his next outing...

Cross looks up from his toys when Killer calls him and walks over to where he’s standing. Looking down at his pet rock, he notices the way that Roky is shaking and immediately becomes concerned for his friend. He’s never seen him this agitated before, so Killer must have really made him angry by using the stone. He knows that he’s really taken a liking to the other, since he went so far as to push it all the way here himself from Killer’s room. He doubts he’ll be happy if Killer carries it back there again...

“Um... I think he’s freaked out about the way it’s being used, since it’s still a rock like him. Can you find something else to use for now, I don’t want to upset him even more than he already is. Please!”

Killer lets out a heavy sigh. “Cross... I really do need it. I know Roky... likes it, but it’s important that I’m able to use it at any time, in case of an emergency. So can you please explain that to him, because I doubt he’ll listen to me if I tell him.”

“...Ok...” Cross deflates a little as he hesitantly agrees after a moment’s silence. He really didn’t want to separate Roky from his new friend when he was enjoying it’s company so much.

Roky stops shaking entirely when Cross approaches, seemingly happier to see him than Killer. The young skeleton bends over to stroke the rock for a bit before he attempts to pick him up. The rock backs up before he can do so and positions himself as close to the whetstone as possible, giving it subtle nudges as if asking him to pick the both of them up. Cross smiles sadly at the scene, seeing how Roky is trying his best to keep his friend safe from Killer by making sure Cross takes them both away from him. He hopes he’ll understand why the other can’t stay here after he explains it to him...

“Roky... please can you let us have the other stone back? Killer isn’t actually hurting it when he’s sharpening his knife on it. I promise it’s completely harmless for your new friend... even though it doesn’t look like it is! Killer really needs it again right now for an important reason, so we have to let him have it. I’m sure you can go visit it in his room when you want to later! You’ll see it’s still completely fine then, it won’t be damaged or anything. You trust me, don’t you?” 

Cross extends his hand out towards his pet rock, expecting he’ll choose to press against it. Hopefully, Roky isn’t mad at him...

The rock stays completely still for a few moments, obviously considering his words. Just as Cross begins to fear that he’s really upset Roky, he approaches his outstretched hand and nuzzles against it gently. He giggles as the others movement tickles his phalanges a little. “I presume this means yes! Can Killer use his special stone then?”

Roky moves back over to the whetstone for a moment and pushes it over to Killer, before quickly returning to Cross to get some more attention from the young skeleton.

Cross delightedly strokes him some more, praising him all the while. “I promise you can go visit your friend again later, but first... how about we go get some lunch!? Horror told me he got lots of chocolate sprinkles for you when they were out shopping last! Shall we go get some now?”

Roky begins vibrating in what Cross can only presume is excitement at the mention of his favorite type of sprinkles. He’s so glad that Roky is much more cheerful again now. 

“Ok, ok, let’s go!”

Killer waits until they’re gone before picking up his whetstone, since he didn’t want Roky to suddenly change his mind about letting him take it back when he was still in the room.

At least he seems to be ok with his presence now. Hopefully, he won’t have Roky kidnapping his whetstone again and he’ll actually be able to find it in its rightful place the next time he needs it.

However now he’ll have to deal with Roky constantly intruding his room whenever he wants to ‘hang out’ with his friend...

...

Killer lets out a chuckle as he studies the whetstone in his hand. How has his life come to a point where he has to contemplate the fact that there might be a pet rock invading his room often looking for a play date with the stone he uses to sharpen his knives?

Yeah... that _definitely_ sounds like something a _supposedly_ terrifying, merciless monster like him would have to worry about in their free time. Nothing out of the ordinary there!

Killer shakes his skull as he makes his way back to his room, glad that he’ll finally be able to sharpen his knives in peace when he gets there.

He should probably hide those knives in a safe place when he’s finished with them though now that he thinks about it. The last thing he needs is for Roky to begin hiding those from him as well...

Jeez, the things he has to do to keep Cross and Roky happy! ~~He really doesn’t mind though.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earlier that day...
> 
> Nightmare is wandering the hallways when he sees Cross’s pet rock on the floor pushing what he thinks is Killer’s whetstone. Roky stops for a moment while he waits for Nightmare to go by. The goopy skeleton doesn’t want to know what the rock is up to and chooses to ignore it as he walks past.


	17. Trick or treating! (Halloween Special) G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross begs Nightmare to take him trick-or-treating. It doesn’t go entirely as planned...
> 
> Just another fluffy non-canon chapter.
> 
> I SWEAR I’M WORKING ON THE MAIN STORY :’/.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone!
> 
> I’m posting this chapter as soon as midnight hits in my time zone so I can say I got this out right on time.... for once. _That’s a first...._
> 
> I wish all of you a great day!

“Please can we go trick-or-treating today, Nightmare? Please!?” Cross begs him as he jumps up and down by his side. He’d been in the process of checking the medical cabinets around the hideout to make sure they’re stocked up on healing gel and other valuable resources when Cross had approached him, saying he had something really important to ask him.

The guardian of negativity raises a brow at his words as he turns to the young skeleton. “Where did you hear about that from?”

“Um...” Cross averts his eye lights from Nightmare as he continues. “I think Dust said something to Horror about it once and I overheard them talking. It sounds like it would be really fun and you get lots of candy and chocolate from others, especially if you have a cool costume like mine!”

Nightmare has to admit the knights costume that Killer and Fresh made for Cross last night looks very impressive. They even made him a helmet and a multicolored lance, one that stands at around the same height as the skeleton wielding it. Making the costume had made Cross incredibly joyful and wearing it now seems to have him bursting with pride and happiness. 

However, that was as far as Nightmare wanted to go with Halloween celebrations. He really doesn’t want to go trick-or-treating, especially because it always ends in disaster year after year when the others coerce him into allowing them to go. With a young Cross added to the mix, it would probably be even worse. 

He knows it would be a terrible idea to go out today, but he has no idea how to word it so Cross understands why they shouldn’t go.

“Your costume is amazing, Cross, but wouldn’t you rather stay here tonight and we can play some games instead of going out and... “ He grimaces at the thought of it. “...trick-or-treating? We have plenty of chocolate here already, you don’t need to get more.”

The young skeleton deflates at his words, looking like a puppy who’s just been kicked as he stares up at Nightmare with big round eye sockets. “But... I was really looking forward to going out with all of you and showing off my costume...” 

Cross sniffles, appearing to be on the verge of tears at this point. 

Nightmare internally panics, wondering what he can do or say to stop the child from crying. He doesn’t want Cross to be upset for the rest of the day because he couldn’t get his way.

“Can’t we go out for just a little while?” The monochrome skeleton begs him, gripping his arm tightly. “I promise I’ll stay by your side at all times and I’ll be really well behaved!”

Oh no... Cross is looking at him with those dreaded dejected eye lights again, making the face that he really struggles to say no to! Nightmare takes in a deep breath, telling himself internally he has to be firm with Cross and explain why they can’t go out, even if it ends up making the other unhappy.

...

He opens his mouth to tell Cross that answer, but then immediately closes it afterwards when he sees the young skeleton looking up at him hopefully.

Yeah... he seriously just can’t find it within himself to say no and crush Cross’s spirits... 

He wonders when exactly he became such a pushover for his boys... 

“Fine. We can go for exactly _one hour_ later if you really want to go that badly.” 

Cross beams with happiness, bouncing excitedly on the spot while cheering.

“ _But..._ ” Nightmare adds in a serious tone, effectively grabbing the child’s attention as he stops to look up at him. “You do have to stick close to us while we’re out, since it’ll be dark and I don’t want you to get lost. If anything bad happens or I think we’re in danger, we’re going to get out of that AU as quickly as possible, so no complaining if we have to leave early. Is that clear?”

Cross gives him his most serious nod. “I understand. Can I go tell the others now, I think they’re just putting the last few touches onto their costumes in their rooms?” 

“Alright.” He agrees. “I’ll just finish up in here and then I’ll join- Oof!“ The young skeleton tackles him at his side and hugs him tightly, his eye lights filled with gratitude as he gives him his biggest smile.

“Thank you so much, Nightmare! This is going to be really fun, I can’t wait!”

Nightmare chuckles and hugs Cross back affectionately. “You’re welcome, little one. Just remember what I told you ok? It’ll only be for an hour.”

The monochrome skeleton gives him one last squeeze before whirling around and rushing out the door to find the others. 

“I will! You’re the best, Nightmare!” He calls back as he runs down the hallway, away from his view.

Nightmare shakes his skull as he walks over to another cabinet, unable to keep a smirk from forming on his face. Oh he is _absolutely dreading_ the idea of trick-or-treating later, yet despite that he’s in a great mood right now. How could he not be when this made Cross (and most likely the others too) so happy?

After checking the last cabinet for medical supplies, Nightmare leaves the room and makes his way over to the other’s bedrooms. 

As he approaches, he’s able to hear their exhilarated chatter and laughter in the distance. 

Well at least if going out does turn out to be a disaster, they’ll have had some amusement beforehand. He’s thrilled to feel so many positive emotions emanating from their rooms, even if it does weaken him. It’s been a while since they’ve all been this relaxed and joyful together. He better go enjoy this moment while it lasts.

Also he should _probably_ put some rules in place so his older boys don’t accidentally end up destroying an AU while they’re meant to be visiting it in secret, consequently alerting the Star Sanses to their presence... _again._

He’s sure that _this year_ they’ll be more responsible though, because Cross is younger and needs to be around mature, sensible adults while he’s out and about.

Maybe things will actually be different this time around and everything will go fine?

* * *

Nope...

Turns out this year really wasn’t any different to all the other ones and he really should’ve never had hope to believe it could be any other way...

The trip had started out fine amazingly enough. 

They had chosen a copy of the original Undertale AU to visit, one that has had monsters on the surface for a number of years now and is overall welcoming to them. They found a neighborhood that was monster friendly where they began trick-or-treating with Cross.

Dust and Killer went from house to house with Cross while the others stuck to the shadows out of sight but always close by in case they were needed. Nightmare wasn’t sure if the humans and monsters of this universe would be able to handle seeing him, Error and Horror without awkward questions being raised, so they kept out of sight for that reason. Fresh also stuck with their group for safety and because he wouldn’t feel comfortable being close to strangers he couldn’t trust.

Most humans and monsters cooed at Cross’s adorable outfit when they saw him and would chat with him for a little bit. Killer and Dust would just stand awkwardly in the background when this happened, but kept an eye light on Cross so they could protect him if anything went wrong. Sometimes the person at the door would acknowledge the two older skeletons too, either complimenting their outfits or just making small ~~annoying~~ talk with them.

Error and Horror had then vanished from his group after thirty minutes, making Nightmare anxious about their safety and whereabouts. They returned again fifteen minutes later, absolutely loaded with chocolate and candy. When Nightmare had asked what they’d been up to, they claimed they found some store where the owner was an ‘anti-monster racist asshole’ and had taken some of the candy there without anyone noticing. He’d been _very skeptical_ about how nobody would not have seen the two skeletons carrying a hoard of chocolate out of the shop. Nightmare had scolded the two for their actions, since they were meant to be setting a good example to Cross. ~~Even though secretly he knew the store kind of deserved it. He’d seen how awfully the owner treated the peaceful monsters of this town.~~

He also later found out that Dust and Killer had ~~stolen~~ taken a little more candy for Cross than they were meant to from some houses. Nightmare knows they just wanted to spoil Cross, but he warned them not to do anything that could attract some unwanted attention.

After fifty minutes of going from house to house, Cross’s group met up with them on one of the hills overlooking the neighborhood, where they had first entered the universe from.

They had at least four bags stuffed to the brim with chocolate bars of all types and Cross couldn’t have looked happier. His eye lights were shaped as stars as he told Nightmare how much fun he had and how everyone really liked his costume. The others all seemed delighted with how it had gone too and everyone was in great spirits.

When the guardian of negativity had stated that they should return to the hideout since their hour time limit was nearly up, Dust had told him that there would be fireworks a little later on in the night and they would be cool to watch. Everyone begged him to stay a little longer because of this and he ~~foolishly~~ agreed, since it was something they all really wanted to see. They had sat down on the grass and ate some of the chocolate they had gotten, chatting for a little bit while they waited for the show to begin.

...

He didn’t realize that the others had organized all of this earlier and Dust had created the fireworks himself until it was too late to stop them...

The fireworks had been placed all around the neighborhood earlier unbeknownst to him and once the timer Dust had set up went off, it didn’t end well for the neighborhood...

Nightmare glares angrily at the others as multiple colorful explosions go off around the buildings and screams ring out throughout the area below them. It would have been a beautiful light display... if half the region wasn’t currently being destroyed by it.

“Oops.” Is all Dust can say as he rubs the back of his skull nervously and gives Nightmare a nervous smile.

“Seriously? I told you all how important it was we lay low today and you made dangerous fireworks that are, as we speak, wreaking havoc down there!?” Nightmare frustratingly yells at them, making them look away with shame written all over their faces.

Cross appears confused by what’s going on and why Nightmare is giving out to the others as he looks up at him. 

“Aren’t they supposed to be doing that?” He asks innocently, oblivious to the destruction that the fireworks are causing to the neighborhood below them.

Nightmare folds his arms, still giving the others a dirty look as he responds. “Fireworks are meant to go off in the sky, _not_ close to the ground where they can harm nearby buildings and people. They’re too dangerous to use where there’s lots of houses around... such as here.”

“Oh...” Cross responds, surveying the area again before he adds. “It still looked really pretty though, even if it was a little loud.”

The others seem a little more cheerful after hearing that news while Nightmare just facepalms and sighs loudly. Why does Cross always have to constantly encourage them...

Looking over the chaos below, Nightmare decides they should probably get out of here in case the Star Sanses decide to show up.

Picking Cross off the floor, he lifts him up so he’s sitting on his shoulders. The young skeleton giggles and nuzzles his skull lovingly from his new position, making Nightmare grin happily. Thank goodness Cross doesn’t seem to be too bothered by all the destruction and noise going on in the background, otherwise it could have ruined the whole night for him. He’s glad Cross is still enjoying himself, despite what’s just happened.

Sirens can he heard in the distance as he turns to the others, grabbing two bags filled with candy using his tentacles. “We should probably head back to the hideout now before _they_ get here.”

They all give him nods of understanding and begin packing up to leave a moment later. 

As soon as they’re finished, Nightmare opens up a portal back to the hideout. He feels a familiar presence enter the AU as he does so and whips his skull around to see one of his brother’s portals opening nearby. Cursing under his breath, Nightmare waits until all the others went through first before stepping in with Cross and closing the portal.

He hopes the Star Sanses didn’t see them there in their costumes. Hopefully, they’ll just presume they caused some havoc in the AU then left again afterwards...

“That was loads of fun! Thanks again for letting us go out, Nightmare!” Cross gratefully says, leaning over and gently hugging his neck a little.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Cross.” He responds, using one of his tentacles to rub the child’s skull fondly. The other contentedly leans into the touch, enjoying the attention he’s receiving from the guardian. 

“Is there anything else you want to do today before bed, Cross?” He asks, hoping he’ll pick something that will be a good distraction from his thoughts of what just happened.

The young skeleton thinks for a moment before responding. “Can we all watch a movie together!?”

Nightmare nods in agreement. “Sure, let’s go have a look at what we can watch.”

“Ok!” Cross’s grip on him tightens a little, which Nightmare takes as signal that he wants to be carried to the living room. The older skeleton complies, knowing he won’t be able to convince Cross to come down from there until they’ve set the film up.

His mind wanders back to how the Star Sanses has shown up while he makes his way to pick out a movie with the others. He’ll probably get an earful about how they destroyed that neighborhood the next time he meets his brother, even though the destruction wasn’t as bad as it usually is. 

He wishes his boys might have been a bit more sensible while out earlier, since he had really hoped to keep their trip a secret, but what’s done is done. They’re all still in a cheerful mood, despite the scolding earlier. Nightmare is glad they all had fun while they were out and could just enjoy some family time together for a moment instead of having to worry about the balance. That probably made the whole trip worth it in the end, regardless of the whole... destruction part at the end.

Maybe if he’s lucky, the Star Sanses will just forget about what happened in the AU tonight and won’t bother bringing it up the next time they meet? 

Nightmare internally chuckles at that thought when they arrive at the living room and Cross begins his search for a movie for all of them to watch. 

Since when has he ever had that sort of good luck?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dream, Blue and Ink ended up asking around and quickly discovered that they went trick or treating. They most certainly brought it up the next time they met. Nightmare and the others just pretended they didn’t hear them. :3
> 
> So I didn’t describe the other’s costumes because honestly, I want to see what all of you come up with for them. Cross is 100% a Knight here though and Nightmare had to be the king he’s protecting, so he made him a cute crown to go on his head. But let me know what you think the rest would dress up as. That’ll be fun to read ^^.
> 
> Even though I can’t exactly go out, I still was planning to dress up as either Sans :3 or Monokuma from Danganronpa, but sadly I left the cosplay hoodies behind where I lived before I moved for work. Honestly though, I’d wear them both any time, especially when I’m just lounging about, so it doesn't hugely matter if I can't do wear them :D.
> 
> I have a tumblr now if anyone’s interested! You can either click [here](http://warriorstale001.tumblr.com/), or I’ll put the url down below if you prefer. I mainly post random updates about writing and video games I've been playing. Feel free to come ask me Qs or just chat with me in general!
> 
> http://warriorstale001.tumblr.com
> 
> Hopefully that works ^^'.

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm welcoming any ideas you guys might have for chapters based on the gang from this series really. So any cute moments between Cross and the others or any What if scenarios you have or something darker if you'd like, don’t worry I won’t judge =). Keep in mind that I **won't** write any NSFW content (not something I write sorry) or romantic relationships (i legit can't write them haha, also I see the gang as more of a family unit in my story but you guys are free to see them as you like). But yeah, please comment me your ideas cos I'd love to see them :D.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed what's been written so far though.
> 
> Link to my [tumblr](http://warriorstale001.tumblr.com/).


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